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West Publishing and Political Contributions
- To: tap-info@tap.org
- Subject: West Publishing and Political Contributions
- From: James Love <love@tap.org>
- Date: Tue, 16 Aug 1994 23:22:47 -0400 (EDT)
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TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE
CROWN JEWELS CAMPAIGN - Juris, Legal Information
August 16, 1994
From 1989 until the present (the last three election
cycles), persons affiliated with West publishing have made
political contributions of $738,728 to a wide range of
office holders and hopefuls. These include $229,250 in
contributions made to the Democratic Party, and more than
one half million in contributions made directly to
candidates. Contributions to members of the House and
Senate Judiciary Committees are $148,572.
The report follows:
Campaign Contributions and West Publishing
James Love (love@tap.org) and Michael Ward (mike@tap.org)
Taxpayer Assets Project
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; voice 202/387-8030
August 16, 1994
From 1989 until the present (the last three election
cycles), persons affiliated with West publishing have made
political contributions of $738,728 to a wide range of office
holders and hopefuls. These include $229,250 in contributions
made to the Democratic Party, and more than one half million in
contributions made directly to candidates. These include
contributions to more than 100 candidates for federal office.
Members of key congressional committees and subcommittees, which
have jurisdiction over antitrust law, copyright law, policies for
the management of federal information resources. or the budgets
of the federal judiciary and the Department of Justice, have
received significant amounts of money.
West Publishing has come under increasing attack because of
its control of the text of federal judicial opinions and the
system of citation to federal caselaw. (See Appendix). West
Publishing also opposed efforts to allow public access to two
federal information systems, the Department of Justice JURIS
system and the Air Force FLITE system, which have databases of
federal caselaw in electronic formats.
Campaign finance laws allow elected officials to raise huge
amounts of money from special interests. West is only one of
many firms involved in efforts to raise funds to support
candidates for federal office. This note provides a snapshot of
who has received campaign contributions, and how contributions
are often targeted to members on the basis of legislative
jurisdiction, despite apparent differences in ideology.
THE CONTRIBUTORS
The report analyzes campaign contributions reported to the
Federal Elections Commission (FEC). The period of analysis is
1989 to the second quarter of 1994 (the most recent three
election cycles). We have included contributions from:
i. The West Publishing Political Action Committee (PAC). The
total of the West PAC contributions were $241,960.
ii. Dwight Opperman (the former President and current Chairman
of West), Vance Opperman (the current President of West),
and other members of the Opperman Family. The Opperman
family contributions to the Democratic Party and candidates
for federal office were $284,100. (Not including
contributions to law firm PAC or the West PAC).
iii. The law firm in which Vance Opperman was the senior partner
before becoming West's president in 1993. This firm has
changed names several times since 1989 (Opperman & Paquin;
Opperman, Heins and Paquin; Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein), continues to represent West on matters
related to its claims of ownership of federal caselaw and
citations. The law firm (and its PAC) made contributions of
$158,843.
iv. Two West lobbyists, former Minnesota Congressman Gerry
Sikorski and lawyer Jonathan W. Cuneo. Sikorski and Cuneo
made contributions of $28,750.
This analysis understates the importance of West/Opperman
political fundraising. We do NOT report individual contributions
made by all members of the Opperman family, nor do we report
individual contributions by other members of the law firm,
individual contributions of other West employees or corporate
officials, or funds raised by West officials on behalf of
candidates.
Contributions by Contributor
1989 through July 1994 FEC report
West Publishing Company PAC $241,960
Vance Opperman 116,750
Dwight Opperman 126,350
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 123,887
Opperman, Heins and Paquin 25,000
Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein PAC 34,931
Darin Beth Opperman 19,000
Darin Opperman 19,000
Fane W. Opperman 500
Janice Opperman 1,000
Jeanice Opperman 1,500
Jonathan W. Cuneo 26,350
Gerry Sikorski 2,500
----------
$738,728
Contributions by funding cycle
89-90 $141,558
91-92 394,497
93-94* 202,691
*incomplete funding cycle.
WHO RECEIVED THE MONEY
The Democratic Party received the largest single share of
the contributions. The $229,250 donated to the Democratic Party
consisted mostly of contributions by Vance and Dwight Opperman.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY - $229,250
INTERESTING FACTS
After giving only $1,000 to the party in 1991, contributions
increased to $147,000 in 1992. Dwight Opperman's contribution of
$100,000 to the Democratic National Committee on October 13,
1992, came less than one month before the presidential election.
In June 1993, Attorney General Janet Reno was asked by 295
citizens to provide public access to JURIS, a large federal
database of legal information. In August 1993, Vance Opperman
and his law firm contributed $50,000 to the Democratic National
Committee. In October 1993, West Publishing told the Department
of Justice that the government had 90 days to remove federal
caselaw from the JURIS database. In January 1994, the JURIS
program was shut down. (See Appendix). Within a few weeks,
Vance Opperman was one of 17 CEO's appointed to the new National
Information Infrastructure Advisory Council. On March 31, 1994,
Vance Opperman made another $25,000 contribution to the
Democratic National Committee.
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DNC $18,000
Vance Opperman 500 4/06/90
Vance Opperman 500 8/31/90
Vance Opperman 500 9/04/90
Vance Opperman -500 9/04/90
Darin Opperman 6,000 8/19/92
Darin Opperman 6,000 8/19/92
Vance Opperman 5,000 8/10/93
DNC-NONFEDERAL-CORPORATE $25,000
Opperman Heins and
Paquin 25,000 8/05/93
DNC-NON-FEDERAL INDIVIDUAL $165,000
Dwight Opperman 100,000 10/13/92
Vance Opperman 10,000 10/06/92
Vance Opperman 10,000 10/06/92
Vance Opperman 20,000 8/10/93
Vance Opperman 25,000 3/31/94
DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ARKANSAS FEDERAL ACCOUNT - $5,000
Vance Opperman 5,000 10/21/92
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN - $16,750
Vance Opperman 750 7/24/90
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 9/24/91
Darin Beth Opperman 10,000 4/27/92
Darin Beth Opperman 5,000 12/21/93
THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES
The next largest recipients of funds were members of the
House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which have jurisdiction
over the Department of Justice and the federal court system, as
well as antitrust and copyright law.
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - $91,212
INTERESTING FACTS
Of the 14 highest ranking democrats (by seniority), 13
received contributions. The top four ranking republicans also
received contributions. The top five largest recipients included
three democrats and two republicans. Of the 15 members of the
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial
Administration, 12 received contributions, including 4 of 6
republicans.
(listed by party in order of seniority)
JACK BROOKS (D-TX) $17,500
Chair, House Judiciary
West Publishing Company PAC 2,500 89-90
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 2/26/90
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 5/01/91
Opperman & Paquin
Political Fund 3,000 91-92
West Publish Company PAC 6,000 91-92
Dwight Opperman 1,000 6/16/92
Janice Opperman 1,000 6/16/92
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 6/07/93
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 6/14/94
DON EDWARDS (D-CA) - $2,500
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
Vance Opperman 500 5/04/09
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
JOHN CONYERS (D-MI) - $17,262
Chair of the House Committee on Government Operations, which has
the Subcommittee on Government Information, and jurisdiction over
federal policy on dissemination of federal government
information.
West Publishing Company PAC 3,500 89-90
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 5,262 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 5,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 3,500 93-94
WILLIAM HUGHES (D-NJ) - $2,500
Became Chair of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and
Judicial Administration in 1991.
West Publishing Company PAC 500 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 91-92
MIKE SYNAR (D-OK) - $3,250
Dwight Opperman 500 9/28/90
Dwight Opperman 500 5/15/91
Dwight Opperman 500 5/06/92
Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein PAC 500 93-94
Dwight Opperman 500 12/28/93
Gerry Sikorski 500 12/28/93
Jonathan W. Cuneo 250 6/17/94
PATRICIA SCHROEDER (D-CO) - $12,500
Member of Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law, which has
jurisdiction over antitrust.
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
Vance Opperman 500 7/25/90
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 4,500 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 6,500 91-92
DAN GLICKMAN (D-KA) - $3,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
Vance Opperman 500 5/15/90
West Publishing Company PAC 1,500 91-92
BARNEY FRANK (D-MA) - $1,000
Did not receive contributions after sponsoring legislation to
prohibit copyright of statutory or judicial citations.
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY) - $1,500
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 500 91-92
HOWARD BERMAN (D-NY) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
RICK BOUCHER (D-VA) - $3,500
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
JOHN BRYANT (D-TX) - $3,250
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 250 93-94
GEORGE SANGMEISTER (D-IL) - $2,600
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 1,600 91-92
JOHN REED (D-RI) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 500 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
DAVID MANN (D-OH) - $500
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
XAVIER BECERRA (D-CA) - $500
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
HAMILTON FISH JR. (R-NY) - $6,000
Ranking Republican
West Publishing Company PAC 2,500 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,500 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein PAC 500 93-94
CARLOS MOORHEAD (R-CA) - $3,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,500 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
HENRY HYDE (R-IL) $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
FRANK SENSENBRENNER (R-WI) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
STEVEN SCHIFF (R-NM) $1,600
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 600 91-92
JIM RAMSTAD (R-MN) $5,250
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 2,500 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 2,500 91-92
Dwight Opperman 250 93-94
SENATE JUDICIARY - $57,360
INTERESTING FACTS
Forty seven percent of all contributions to this committee was
given to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Senator Feinstein is a
member of the Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks,
and the Subcommittee on Technology and the Law. West President
Vance Opperman also served as Finance Committee Chairman for
Senator Feinstein.
Senator Heflin received $11,000 in the 1989-1990 funding
cycle. Heflin serves as chair of the Subcommittee on Courts and
Administrative Practices, and is a member of the Subcommittee on
Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights and the Subcommittee on
Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks.
Five of eight republicans serving on the full committee
received contributions. Five of seven members of the
Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights
received contributions. Seven of nine members of the
Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks received
contributions.
JOE BIDEN (D-DE) - $3,000
Chair, Senate Judiciary
Jonathan Cuneo 1,000 8/01/90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 89-90
TED KENNEDY (D-MA) - $500
Gerry Sikorski 500 10/04/93
DENNIS DECONCINI (D-AZ) $1,860
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC -1,140 93-94
HOWELL HEFLIN (D-AL) - $11,000
Chair, Senate Subcommittee on Courts and Administrative Practices
Dwight Opperman 2,000 8/25/89
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 6/30/89
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 5,000 89-90
Vance Opperman 1,000 9/18/90
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 89-90
PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
PAUL SIMON (D-IL) - $5,000
West Publishing Company PAC 5,000 89-90
DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA) - $27,000
Member, Senate Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and
Trademarks, Senate Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, and
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, which has
jurisdiction over the Government Printing Office.
Darin Opperman 1,000 5/11/92
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 6/30/91
Darin Beth Opperman 1,000 5/13/93
Dwight Opperman 1,000 6/30/93
Jonathan W. Cuneo 1,000 11/15/93
Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein PAC 10,000 93-94
Vance Opperman 1,000 5/13/93
Vance Opperman 1,000 6/30/93
West Publishing Company PAC 10,000 93-94
STROM THURMOND (D-SC) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
ALAN K. SIMPSON (R-WY) - $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
CHARLES GRASSLEY - $1,000
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 1,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC -1,000 93-94
ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA) - $4,000
Ranking republican, Subcommittee on Technology and the Law,
member of Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies and Business
Rights.
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 2,000 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 91-92
WILLIAM COHEN (R-MA) $1,000
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES
West Publishing has become increasingly concerned that the
Department of Justice or some other federal agency will seek to
create a federal repository of judicial opinions. If this is
extended to historical opinions, the government will have to
spend an estimated $6 million to replace historical records lost
because of the 1982 - 1993 Department of Justice contracts that
gave West Publishing ownership of more than 10 years of data
collections for JURIS. If the government takes steps to place
the historical records of federal caselaw into the public domain,
it will increase competition among publishers, leading to lower
prices for public and government purchasers of computer assisted
legal research services (but may also lower revenues for West
Publishing).
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE AND
STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES - $11,750 -
INTERESTING FACT
West made contributions to 5 of 6 Democrats on this Subcommittee.
ERNEST HOLLINGS (D-SC) - $2,000
Chairman
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 500 91-92
Vance Opperman 500 7/11/91
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 93-94
DANIEL INOUYE (D-HI) - $2,000
West Publishing Company PAC 2,000 91-92
DALE BUMPERS (D-AR) - $2,000
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 2,000 91-92
JIM SASSER (D-TN) $1,000
Darin Beth Opperman 1,000 12/24/93
ROBERT KERREY (D-NE) $4,750
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 1,500 91-92
Vance Opperman 250 1/13/92
West Publishing Company PAC 3,000 93-94
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE - $20,470
INTERESTING FACTS
West's contributions to the House Appropriations Committee
are focused on Representative Martin Sabo, a Democrat from
Minneapolis. In addition to his position on the Appropriations
Committee, Sabo serves as Chair of the Budget Committee.
Representative Sabo is also a member of the subcommittee which
approves the budget for the White House, OMB, the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy, the Administrative Office of the
United States, and the National Records and Archives
Administration (NARA).
MARTIN SABO (D-MN) - $18,470
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 600 89-90
West Publishing Company PAC 1,000 89-90
Opperman & Paquin Political Fund 4,899 91-92
West Publishing Company PAC 3,000 91-92
Gerry Sikorski 500 5/17/94
Gerry Sikorski 250 6/17/94
Schatz, Paquin, Lockridge,
Grindal & Holstein PAC 2,221 93-94
Vance Opperman 1,000 8/10/93
West Publishing Company PAC 5,000 93-94
NEAL SMITH (D-IA) - $1,500
Chair, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary,
and Related Agencies.
Dwight Opperman 1,000 3/04/92
West Publishing Company PAC 500 93-94
NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) - $500
West Publishing Company PAC 500 89-90
LARGEST INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS
The following list gives the names of those persons who
received more than $4,000 in contributions from the persons
affiliated with West Publishing.
Persons Receiving more than $4,000
(from 1989 through July 1994)
Gerry Sikorski (D-Minn, defeated in 1992) 32,370
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA, Senate Judiciary) 27,000
Albert Gore Jr. (D-TN, currently Vice-President) 21,691
Martin Sabo (D-MN, House Appropriations) 18,470
Thomas Daschle (D-SD, Senator) 18,322
Jack Brooks (D-TX, Chair House Judiciary) 17,500
John Conyers (D-MI, Chair, House Committee
on Government Operations) 17,262
Tom Harkin (D-IA, Senator) 16,755
Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN, Senator, defeated 1990) 15,999
Bob Wise (D-WV, former Chair, Subcommittee
on Government Information) 13,350
Patricia Schroeder (D-CO, House Judiciary) 12,500
Howell Heflin (D-AL, Chair Subcommittee on Courts
and Administrative Practice) 11,000
Donald Riegle (D-MI, Senator) 10,962
Byron Dorgan (D-ND, Senator) 9,999
Richard Gephardt (D-MO, House Majority Leader) 9,999
David Minge (D-MN, Representative) 9,500
Harris Wofford (D-PA, Senator) 9,500
Bruce Vento (D-MN, Representative) 8,113
Collin Peterson (D-MN, Representative) 7,700
Kent Conrad (D-ND, Senator) 7,250
Charles Robb (D-VA, Senator) 7,000
Timothy Wirth (D-CO, retired, currently
Undersecretary of State) 7,000
Robert Abrams (D-NY, unsuccessful Senate Candidate) 6,750
John Glenn (D-OH, Chair, Senator Government Affairs) 6,611
Hamilton Fish Jr. (R-NY, Ranking Republican
House Judiciary) 6,000
Jim Ramstad (R-MN, House Judiciary) 5,250
Paul Simon (D-IL, Senate Judiciary) 5,000
Rodney Grams (R-MN, Representative) 5,000
Robert Kerrey (D-NE, Senator) 4,750
Dave Durenberger (R-MN, Senator) 4,500
Harley Staggers (D, retired ) 4,250
Arlen Specter (R-PA, Senate Judiciary) 4,000
CONTRIBUTIONS TO RALPH NADER
Ralph Nader founded the Taxpayer Assets Project. From 1991
to 1992, Vance Opperman, Darin Opperman and Jonathan Cuneo
contributed a total of $2,300 to the Committee to Draft Ralph
Nader for President.
APPENDIX
KEY DATES IN THE CONTROVERSY OVER WEST CONTROL
OF FEDERAL CASELAW AND CITATION SYSTEM
During the period of study, West has come under increasing
attack for its control over federal caselaw and citations. The
following are a few important dates.
1989 Joyce and Patterson publish "Monopolizing the Law: The Scope
of Copyright Protection for Law Reports and Statutory
Compilations," for the UCLA Law Review (Vol 36, page 719).
The influential article is an attack on the West/Mead
antitrust/copyright litigation settlement, where Mead
obtained a license to use the West page numbers in return
for dropping its antitrust against West and asserting its
claim that West could not copyright the page numbers of its
published judicial opinions.
1990 March. The federal Judicial Conference agreed to encourage
courts to allow the use of parallel electronic citations to
federal court opinions.
1991 February. The federal Administrative Office of the Courts
circulated an early proposal for an electronic citations
system (ECS), which included a proposal for a central
repository of federal judicial opinions.
April. TAP testifies before the Joint Committee on
Printing, asking for public access to the DOJ JURIS system,
which includes federal caselaw.
June. Representative Charlie Rose (D-NC) introduces
legislation (HR 2772) which would create one-stop-shopping
for online access to federal government information through
the Government Printing Office (GPO).
1992 May. Congress holds hearings on HR 4426, a bill which would
specifically eliminate copyright protections for page
numbers and names of statutes. The Register of Copyrights
and the American Association of Law Libraries testify in
favor of the legislation.
September. The Judicial Conference rejected a proposal for
a public domain citation system. Despite the Judicial
Conference's actions, public interest in a public domain
system of citations grows.
October. Dwight and Vance Opperman give $120,000 to the
Democratic National Committee ($100,000 from Dwight, $20,000
from Vance).
1993 June. TAP and 295 citizens write Attorney General Reno
asking for public access to JURIS.
August. Vance Opperman and his law firm contribute $50,000
to the Democratic National Committee.
September. West sues On Point Solutions, alleging that the
CD-ROM publisher cannot copy the text of federal judicial
opinions published by West or use West page numbers.
October, West tells DOJ to erase more than 10 years of
federal caselaw collections from the JURIS database.
1994 January. Attorney General Reno shuts down the 23 year old
JURIS program, and purchases of CALR services are shifted to
WESTLAW and LEXIS. Tax Analysts Sues DOJ for access to
JURIS records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Matthew Bender files lawsuit against West in New York on
issue of West claim of copyright to page numbers of judicial
opinions. Vance Opperman is appointed to the National
Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee.
March. Vance Opperman gives $25,000 to the Democratic
National Committee.
May. OMB hosts closed meeting of federal agencies, selected
publishers, and data users to discuss issue of public access
to legal information.
July. Coalition of public interest groups, law librarians,
independent publishers, academics and the Government
Printing Office urge Attorney General Janet Reno to
structure DOJ CALR procurement to require caselaw and
citations system in digital form be placed in the public
domain.
August. Senator Carl Levin and Representative Bernard
Sanders write Attorney General Janet Reno asking for public
comments on the proposed DOJ CALR procurement, on the issue
of placing federal caselaw and citation system into the
public domain.
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