Legal News

Is a ?Citizens United? Decision Mere Moments Away? Stay Tuned

By Ashby Jones

Interpreting the Supreme Court’s moves can sometimes feel like so much tea-leave watching. This justice hasn’t hired clerks yet. Does it mean he’s retiring? That justice stayed silent during argument. Is she ill?

We’ve got another such situation today, making us feel the way we do while watching “Lost” — confused, bewildered and desperate for answers. The court announced on Wednesday that it would be coming back Thursday at 10 a.m. for a previously unscheduled session.

What does it mean? We have no idea. But the Scoturatti are predicting it means the court will finally announce its long-awaited decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case, first argued last spring, was reargued in September to consider whether it was unconstitutional for Congress to forbid corporations and labor unions to advertise for and against candidates. Click here for coverage of the special session announcement, from the WaPo; here for Adam Liptak’s squib in the NYT; here for some interesting insights from Scotusblog’s Lyle Denniston. Click here, here and here here and here for previous LB coverage of the Citizens United case.

Writes Denniston:

It is widely expected that, when Citizens United is decided, the Court will issue a bulky ruling, in terms of the page totals, with perhaps multiple opinions. The actual public session Thursday morning - likely to attract a large audience, including lawyers involved in the case and members of Congress - will follow a customary pattern. The Justices will take the bench promptly at 10 a.m., and, with nothing else on their schedule for the session, will begin almost immediately announcing a ruling.

At stake: Nothing less than the fate of our political system. We’re overstating a bit, but not by much; the ruling could shake deeply the way our nation funds and supports its political candidates.

But again, all the buildup may be for naught — just another ho-hum flirtation between Kate and Sawyer. As the WaPo article aptly reads: “Remember, any prediction about what the court will do is only speculation. The first truism one learns at the Marble Palace: It’s the Supreme Court — they can do whatever they want. “

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 21, 2010 (boomark / email).