US Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign finance laws on 1st Amendment grounds - Citizens United v. FEC

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> 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. FEC
> Reply-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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