#SCOTUS sided w/ #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech yesterday: The statute at issue in this case imposes two types of limits on campaign contributions. The first, called base limits, restricts how much money a donor may contribute to a particular candidate or committee. 2 U. S. C. §441a(a)(1). The second, called aggregate limits, restricts how much money a donor may contribute in total to all candidates or committees. §441a(a)(3). This case does not involve any challenge to the base limits, which we have previously upheld as serving the permissible objective of combatting corruption. The Gov- ernment contends that the aggregate limits also serve that objective, by preventing circumvention of the base limits. We conclude, however, that the aggregate limits do little, if anything, to address that concern, while seriously re- stricting participation in the democratic process. The aggregate limits are therefore invalid under the First Amendment. supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-536_e1pf.pdf It would have been preferable for The Court to adopt the rationale and legal tests argued by Justice Thomas in his concurring opinion rather than to continue to subject the different forms of financial support to different levels of scrutiny which has devolved into an exercise in word games since the decision in Buckley some 40 years ago.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 16:33:51 +0000
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