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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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New Look at Election Spending Looms in September
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| Contributor | Jason |
| Last Edited | Jason Jul 02, 2009 02:16am |
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| Category | News |
| Author | JESS BRAVIN |
| Media | Newspaper - Wall Street Journal |
| News Date | Thursday, July 2, 2009 08:15:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | WASHINGTON -- The most important case of the Supreme Court's just-ended term may be a test of restrictions on corporate and union campaign spending that the justices decided not to decide -- at least not yet.
The case, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, was expected to focus on narrow issues under the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law -- in particular, whether a law drafted with broadcast advertisements in mind also applied to video-on-demand services.
But the justices signaled they could be ready to address broader questions believed settled by a 2003 decision upholding McCain-Feingold, which among other things limits political spending by corporations and unions. The bill takes its name from its primary co-sponsors, Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Russell Feingold (D., Wis.).
The court's conservative majority has chipped away at McCain-Feingold in recent years. Now, the court has asked for a fresh round of arguments on Sept. 9, in an unusual summer session, on the question of whether it is constitutional to limit corporate political spending.
"The court is reaching out to decide the foundational question about the rights of corporations in political campaigns," said Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Columbia Law School. "It's the last step in several incremental moves the Roberts Court has made to strike down the pillars of campaign-finance law." |
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