Judge won’t make campaign finance exception for EMILY’s List News
Judge won’t make campaign finance exception for EMILY’s List

[JURIST] A US District Court judge has refused to block new federal campaign finance regulations that an abortion rights interest group claims will hinder its ability to participate in political campaigns, and by extension impinges upon its First Amendment rights. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly [official profile] refused a request for preliminary injunction by EMILY's List [advocacy website], which backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, and is suing to overturn the relevant Federal Election Commission [official website] regulations that went into effect Jan. 1. Under the new regulations, groups must use "hard money" – limited donations from individuals – to cover at least half of overhead costs, while the use of soft money – corporate, union, and unlimited donations – for specific federal political campaigns or elections is expressly prohibited. AP has more,

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.