Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois used publicly available records to discern which organizations and corporations are funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and then he sent letters to those organizations and corporations inquiring about whether or not they agree with ALEC’s sponsorship of Stand-Your-Ground laws. He also told them that he plans on holding hearings on Stand-Your-Ground laws in September, and that he would like to use their answers during his hearing.
This seems fairly straightforward to me. He would like to undermine the case for Stand-Your-Ground laws by demonstrating that even the funders of ALEC are divided on the issue, with many, if not most, funders opposed to the laws. But the Chicago Tribune editorial board is much conspiracy-minded. They think Sen. Durbin is threatening to besmirch the reputations of anyone who supports Stand-Your-Ground laws by publicly associating them with the death of Trayvon Martin.
First of all, these letters are not subpoenas, and any responses are voluntary. Secondly, the Tribune acknowledges that most donors are not involved with ALEC because of their interest in gun laws.
The [Wall Street] Journal notes that as Durbin well knows, companies that support ALEC’s economic initiatives don’t care about “stand-your-ground” laws: “His goal is to scare them with reputational damage by mentioning them in the same breath as Trayvon Martin.”
