Litigation

Court Clarifies Corporate Political Spending in MN

By Peter Hardin

A federal judge has sided with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in clarifying the rights of corporations to play an active role in state elections.

The state’s restrictions on  on independent political expenditures by corporations are unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled, according to an Associated Press article. The decision is available here. The Chamber had asked for a declaratory ruling in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision (see Gavel Grab).

Mike Dean, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, called the decision “disappointing but not entirely surprising. Basically what the decision really does now is open the floodgates of corporate money into Minnesota politics.”

Following the decision, further calls are expected for new rules mandating corporate disclosure of political spending, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

You can learn how courts and lawmakers in other states have interpreted, or responded to, Citizens United by visiting Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on May 12, 2010 (boomark / email).