ACORN Litigates Funding while Pimp Arrested

Motion to Expand 'Probably Unconstitutional' Finding to FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act Pending
James O'Keefe arrested; charged with entering federal property under false pretenses...

Guest blogged by Ernest A. Canning, Brad Blog

On Nov. 12, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that separate House and Senate Resolutions to bar all funds to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were unconstitutional Bills of Attainder.

We initially covered the ACORN lawsuit in "ACORN Sues Congress Over Defunding Legislation." The lawsuit directly pertained to House and Senate Appropriations Resolutions which singled out ACORN for a cut-off of federal funds. These were passed after videos emerged which purported to depict some ACORN employees giving advice to individuals posing as a prostitute and a pimp.

As Brad Friedman noted in "ACORN Cleared YET AGAIN of Wrongdoing," former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger then issued an independent report, which found incidents of mismanagement by ACORN but "no criminal wrongdoing." CCR noted that Harshbarger, who reviewed the "complete transcripts," concluded that "the infamous videotapes had been doctored and fully misrepresented the actions of the workers shown."

On Dec. 11, U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon granted ACORN's motion for a preliminary injunction [PDF], ruling that it was likely ACORN would prevail on the merits of its claim that the House and Senate Appropriations Resolutions were unconstitutional Bills of Attainder.

Although no doubt fully aware of ACORN's pending lawsuit, on Dec. 10 & Dec. 13 the House and Senate enacted the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, an amalgam of six separate bills, which the President signed into law on Dec. 16. The Act contains a virtually identical provision to cut-off ACORN from federal funds. ACORN responded by filing a motion [PDF] to expand the preliminary injunction to the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

As of this posting, we are awaiting word from CCR. on the fate of ACORN's pending motion.

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, James O'Keefe, who posed as the pimp in the ACORN sting video, along with three others, was arrested and "charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony," in relation to an alleged plot to tamper with the telephone system in the office of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA).