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US Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign finance laws on 1st Amendment grounds - Citizens United v. FEC
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:39:57 -0500
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From: Ethan Ackerman <eackerma () u washington edu> Date: January 21, 2010 12:17:03 PM EST To: David Farber <dave () farber net>Subject: US Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign finance laws on 1st Amendment grounds - Citizens United v. FECReply-To: eackerma () u washington edu
Greetings Dave, The U.S. Supreme Court has just released its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It isn't a narrow ruling limited to one or two subsections, but a broad 1st Amendment pronouncement, It overturns several prior Supreme Court cases and concludes that the 1st Amendment does not allow spending restrictions on the political speech of corporations. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-205.ZO.html This case has been reargued and delayed since last March, and was widely anticipated (or dreaded) for its outcome. The opinion that finally came out is fractured, with 4 separate concurrences or dissents, but the opinion of the Court garnered at least 5 votes for each of its portions. Corporate (or individual) donation restrictions were not the subject of this lawsuit and remain constitutional after this opinion, and the court indicates as much. The opinion also ruled that the FEC's corporate attribution and discosure rules were generally ("facially") Constitutional, and Constitutional in this case, but other individual instances of their enforcement might run afoul of the 1st Amendment. Agree or disagree on these critical issues, we now have a definitive ruling from this Court.
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- US Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign finance laws on 1st Amendment grounds - Citizens United v. FEC Dave Farber (Jan 21)