Supreme Court rejects limits on corporate spending in electoral campaigns
From GlobalResearch.com
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A divided Supreme Court on Thursday swept away decades of legislative efforts to limit the role of corporations in election campaigns, ruling that severe restrictions on corporate spending are inconsistent with the First Amendment's protection of political speech.
The court split 5 to 4 over the ruling, with its conservative members in the majority.
The decision upends the court's precedent that corporations may not use their profits to support or oppose candidates, and it rejects a large portion of the so-called McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act that the justices had declared constitutional just six years ago. It seems likely to apply to the political role of labor unions as well.
"When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought," the court said in a decision written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. "This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves."
President Obama sharply criticized the decision, saying it gives "a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics" and represents "a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans."
In a statement released by the White House, Obama said the ruling "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington -- while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates." He said he was instructing his administration "to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue" and coordinate with Democratic and Republican leaders on a "forceful response."
The case arose from a conservative group's production of a scathing look at Hillary Rodham Clinton, a documentary produced during her run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The case is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
The decision does not address the restriction on direct contributions to candidates, and it upholds disclosure requirements for groups that mount advertising campaigns for and against candidates.
The far-reaching ruling marks a triumph for groups that have fought the McCain-Feingold provisions, formally known as the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002.
It also is a telling reminder of how quickly a court can change. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor supported the constitutionality of the act in 2003. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. And O'Connor's replacement, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., have supported each challenge to the law since they have joined the court. They supported Kennedy's opinion, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The court's liberal bloc, which included new Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the case, dissented. Justice John Paul Stevens took more than 20 minutes to read a dissent from the bench, a move justices reserve for emphasizing their disagreement.
"A radical change in the law," Stevens called the decision. He said Thursday's majority rejects the decisions of Congress dating from 1907 and "the overwhelming majority of justices who have served on this court."
He said the five-member majority are the only ones who believe corporate money in electoral politics should be increased, rather than controlled. Sotomayor and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer joined his 90-page dissent.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who co-wrote the 2002 campaign reform law with Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), said he was "disappointed" by the decision. But Feingold went further, calling it "a terrible mistake" and saying it ignored "important principles of judicial restraint and respect for precedent."
"Presented with a relatively narrow legal issue, the Supreme Court chose to roll back laws that have limited the role of corporate money in federal elections since Teddy Roosevelt was president," Feingold added
Both senators noted, though, that the court had retained the law's ban on so-called soft money contributions.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business group, said the ruling provides "clarity and predictability" for corporations, unions and nonprofit groups seeking to take part in the political process.
"Today's ruling protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum, and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise," said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the chamber's litigation center.
But Fred Wertheimer, a veteran campaign reform activist who heads Democracy 21, called the ruling "a disaster for the American people and a dark day for the Supreme Court."
"In a stark choice between the right of American citizens to a government free from 'influence-buying' corruption and the economic and political interests of American corporations, five Supreme Court Justices today came down in favor of American corporations," Wertheimer said. "With a stroke of the pen, five Justices wiped out a century of American history devoted to preventing corporate corruption of our democracy."
A lower court said the Clinton film ran afoul of a McCain-Feingold provision that forbids corporations, unions and special interest groups from using money from their general treasuries for "any broadcast, cable or satellite communications" that refer to a candidate for federal office during election season.
In the past, that has meant 30-second to one-minute campaign ads. But the lower court said the same rule applied to Citizens United's 90-minute film about Clinton , which it proposed to broadcast on demand on cable channels.
But during oral arguments in March, conservative justices were more interested in the larger questions of how far government could go to corral corporate spending. Even though the law is specifically about broadcasts, justices asked the government's lawyer whether the ban could include books that endorsed a candidate.
Instead of deciding the case at the end of the term in June, the court set a special hearing for Sept. 9 to decide whether to overturn the court's 5 to 4 decision in 2003 declaring McCain-Feingold constitutional.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A divided Supreme Court on Thursday swept away decades of legislative efforts to limit the role of corporations in election campaigns, ruling that severe restrictions on corporate spending are inconsistent with the First Amendment's protection of political speech.
The court split 5 to 4 over the ruling, with its conservative members in the majority.
The decision upends the court's precedent that corporations may not use their profits to support or oppose candidates, and it rejects a large portion of the so-called McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act that the justices had declared constitutional just six years ago. It seems likely to apply to the political role of labor unions as well.
"When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought," the court said in a decision written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. "This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves."
President Obama sharply criticized the decision, saying it gives "a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics" and represents "a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans."
In a statement released by the White House, Obama said the ruling "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington -- while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates." He said he was instructing his administration "to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue" and coordinate with Democratic and Republican leaders on a "forceful response."
The case arose from a conservative group's production of a scathing look at Hillary Rodham Clinton, a documentary produced during her run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The case is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
The decision does not address the restriction on direct contributions to candidates, and it upholds disclosure requirements for groups that mount advertising campaigns for and against candidates.
The far-reaching ruling marks a triumph for groups that have fought the McCain-Feingold provisions, formally known as the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002.
It also is a telling reminder of how quickly a court can change. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor supported the constitutionality of the act in 2003. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. And O'Connor's replacement, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., have supported each challenge to the law since they have joined the court. They supported Kennedy's opinion, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The court's liberal bloc, which included new Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the case, dissented. Justice John Paul Stevens took more than 20 minutes to read a dissent from the bench, a move justices reserve for emphasizing their disagreement.
"A radical change in the law," Stevens called the decision. He said Thursday's majority rejects the decisions of Congress dating from 1907 and "the overwhelming majority of justices who have served on this court."
He said the five-member majority are the only ones who believe corporate money in electoral politics should be increased, rather than controlled. Sotomayor and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer joined his 90-page dissent.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who co-wrote the 2002 campaign reform law with Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), said he was "disappointed" by the decision. But Feingold went further, calling it "a terrible mistake" and saying it ignored "important principles of judicial restraint and respect for precedent."
"Presented with a relatively narrow legal issue, the Supreme Court chose to roll back laws that have limited the role of corporate money in federal elections since Teddy Roosevelt was president," Feingold added
Both senators noted, though, that the court had retained the law's ban on so-called soft money contributions.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business group, said the ruling provides "clarity and predictability" for corporations, unions and nonprofit groups seeking to take part in the political process.
"Today's ruling protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum, and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise," said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the chamber's litigation center.
But Fred Wertheimer, a veteran campaign reform activist who heads Democracy 21, called the ruling "a disaster for the American people and a dark day for the Supreme Court."
"In a stark choice between the right of American citizens to a government free from 'influence-buying' corruption and the economic and political interests of American corporations, five Supreme Court Justices today came down in favor of American corporations," Wertheimer said. "With a stroke of the pen, five Justices wiped out a century of American history devoted to preventing corporate corruption of our democracy."
A lower court said the Clinton film ran afoul of a McCain-Feingold provision that forbids corporations, unions and special interest groups from using money from their general treasuries for "any broadcast, cable or satellite communications" that refer to a candidate for federal office during election season.
In the past, that has meant 30-second to one-minute campaign ads. But the lower court said the same rule applied to Citizens United's 90-minute film about Clinton , which it proposed to broadcast on demand on cable channels.
But during oral arguments in March, conservative justices were more interested in the larger questions of how far government could go to corral corporate spending. Even though the law is specifically about broadcasts, justices asked the government's lawyer whether the ban could include books that endorsed a candidate.
Instead of deciding the case at the end of the term in June, the court set a special hearing for Sept. 9 to decide whether to overturn the court's 5 to 4 decision in 2003 declaring McCain-Feingold constitutional.
I would welcome anyone to fully explain how these so-called justices arrived at this opinion...