SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK

Court won't stop Federal Reserve from revealing loan data By Jesse J. Holland Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court decided on Monday not to stop the release of Federal Reserve Board documents identifying financial companies that received Fed loans to survive the financial crisis. The high court, without comment, refused to hear an appeal from an association of bankers trying to keep the information from becoming public. News Corp.'s Fox News Network LLC and Bloomberg L.P. had sued separately for details about loans that commercial banks and Wall Street firms received and the collateral they put up. Other news agencies, including The Associated Press, filed briefs with the appellate court in their support. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City had said that such information isn't automatically exempt from requests under the Freedom of Information Act. But the Fed had argued that if it identified banks that drew emergency loans, it could cause a run on those institutions, undermine the loan programs and potentially hurt the economy. The Fed acts as lender of last resort for banks that can't get money from private sources. The Fed said in a statement that it would "fully comply" with the court's decision and was preparing to make the information available. The Fed noted that some of the information relating to emergency lending was already released Dec. 1 under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The Obama administration had asked the high court not to hear the appeal. But The Clearing House Association, which represents some of the nation's largest banks, wanted the high court to review the decision. The Clearing House Association said it was "disappointed" that its petitions were rejected. In the Fox case, the appeals court ruled that the documents should be available for review by news organizations and the public. In the Bloomberg case, the court rejected the Fed's argument that identifying the banks and providing other information would harm them and discourage other distressed banks from seeking the Fed's help. The court said the disclosure requirements under FOIA are set by Congress, not the court. "The Federal Reserve forgot that it is the central bank for the people of the United States and not a private academy where decisions of great importance may be withheld from public scrutiny, " said Bloomberg News Editor in Chief Matthew Winkler. "As only Congress has the constitutional power to coin money, Congress delegates that power to the Fed and the Fed must be accountable to Congress, especially in disclosing what it does with the people's money." Congress last year passed legislation requiring the release of some of the information being fought over in this lawsuit. Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in this decision because she worked on this case while serving as solicitor general. The cases were Clearing House Association v. Bloomberg, No. 10-543, and Clearing House Association v. Fox News Network, No. 10-660. Justices turn down campaign finance rules challenge WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't hear a Republican-backed challenge of federal campaign finance restrictions. The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by former Louisiana Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao and the Republican National Committee. Cao wanted the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the $42,000 federal limit on what state and national parties could spend in 2010 in coordinated efforts on behalf of a candidate in his race. Currently, the state and national parties cannot consult with each other on money spent beyond that limit. State party leaders have said can lead to duplicative or contradictory messages. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the campaign finance limit was constitutional. Cao lost his seat last year to Democrat Cedric Richmond. The case is Cao v. Federal Election Commission, 10-776. Court refuses to hear Eminem royalty lawsuit WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't get involved in a fight between Eminem's former production company and Universal Music Group over downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones. The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Universal Music Group. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said F.B.T. Productions LLC's contract entitled Eminem and his producers to a 50-50 split with Universal for recordings licensed to digital distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes. The record label had paid F.B.T. and Eminem 12 percent of sales, the agreed-upon rate for physical albums. F.B.T. discovered Eminem in 1995 before he signed in 1998 with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. Universal's Interscope Records distributes Aftermath recordings. The case is Aftermath Records v. F.B.T. Productions, LLC, 10-768. Published: Wed, Mar 23, 2011