Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-13-2010

Abstract

Defendants-appellants, Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"); Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB"); Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury; Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"); Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce; Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense; and the United States (collectively, the "government" or "defendants"), appeal from a preliminary injunction entered on December 11, 2009, and a permanent injunction and declaratory judgment entered on March 10, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Gershon, J.).

Plaintiffs-appellees, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ("ACORN"), Acorn Institute, and New York Acorn Housing Company[1] ("New York Acorn" or, collectively with ACORN and Acorn Institute, the "plaintiffs") brought this action challenging provisions in several federal appropriations laws barring the distribution of federal funds to ACORN and its affiliates, subsidiaries, and allied organizations. The District Court struck down the challenged provisions, holding that (1) the plaintiffs have Article III standing to challenge the appropriations laws against all of the defendants, including the Secretary of Defense and the Director of OMB; and (2) the appropriations laws singling out ACORN and its affiliates from obtaining federal funds (a) fell within the historical meaning of legislative punishment, (b) did not further a nonpunitive legislative purpose, and (c) were supported by a legislative record that evinced an intent to punish. Accordingly, the court enjoined the defendants from enforcing the challenged provisions of the appropriations laws.

Comments

618 F.3d 125 (2010) ACORN, Acorn Institute, Inc., and Mhany Management, Inc., f/k/a/ New York Acorn Housing Company, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. UNITED STATES of America, Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Peter Orszag Director Office of Management and Budget, Timothy R. Geithner Jr., Secretary of the Department of Treasury of the United States, Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, and Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, Defendants-Appellants.

Docket Nos. 09-5172-cv (L), 10-0992-cv (CON).

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: June 24, 2010.

Decided: August 13, 2010.

File # 3957, Box 155

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