Litigation

Campaign Contribution Limits Shot Down

By Peter Hardin

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that an independent political group can collect unlimited individual donations to spend on advertising for or against political candidates.

The ruling, following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, went further to loosen campaign finance restrictions.

The conservative group SpeechNow won a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that “essentially expanded the bounds” of Citizens United, according to The Blog of Legal Times. Citizens United held that corporations can spend freely on political advertising.

At issue were limits of up to $5,000 a year placed on individual contributions to independent political advocacy groups such as SpeechNow. The court’s chief judge said the limits violated the First Amendment, Reuters reported.

“The SpeechNow ruling significantly broadens the impact of Citizens United, extending its constitutional reasoning from campaign spending to campaign donations,” wrote SCOTUSblog.

The latest ruling “represents a further weakening of campaign-finance laws and limits,” stated the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog.

At the same time the appeals court said SpeechNow will have to make disclosure reports to the Federal Election Commission about its fundraising and spending, an Associated Press article reported.

Separately, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington said a government ban on soft money, the unlimited donations from corporations and individuals that were outlawed by a 2002 campaign finance law, can be enforced.

The court turned down a challenge from the Republican National Committee and local affiliates.

A lawyer representing the RNC, James Bopp Jr., said he believes “the case is set up very favorably for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.?

Learn more about Citizens United from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 26, 2010 (boomark / email).