Fox News reports:
In an attempt to regain the millions in funding it lost in the wake of a hidden-camera scandal, ACORN is suing the federal government over congressional legislation that cut off funding to the community organizing group.
Representatives for ACORN sued the federal government Thursday morning in an attempt to regain the millions of dollars in funding the community organizing group lost after filmmakers videotaped its workers offering advice on how to commit tax fraud and various other felonies.
The suit charges Congress with violating the Constitution when it passed legislation in September that specifically targeted ACORN to lose federal housing, education and transportation funds.
A case can be made that defunding ACORN specifically is an unconstitutional bill of attainder. I don’t buy it; I don’t believe that refusing funding is a form of punishment, but you never know what the courts will do. (Eugene Volokh explores the matter here.)
But there are a couple of remarks that must be made: Firstly, to the best of my knowledge, ACORN’s defunding has not yet become law, so this lawsuit seems premature. The courts can hardly entertain lawsuits over everything Congress ever contemplates. Secondly, if you want to be all constitutional about it, Congress has no power to fund ACORN in the first place.
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