After a 5-4 ruling delivered January 21 by the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations and labor unions will now be permitted to spend as much as they wish on independent activities in support or opposition of presidential and congressional candidates. The restrictions on campaign expenditures had been in place for decades.
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court’s majority held that these limits are an unconstitutional restraint of free speech and a form of censorship and that the government lacked a legitimate basis on which to restrict independent corporate campaign expenditures. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that “[t]he government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether.” Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito joined Kennedy in the majority.
The decision also overturned portions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that restricted corporate and union campaign spending in the weeks before an election. Contributions to individual candidates directly from corporations and unions will still be restricted, but direct corporate and union contributions to candidates will continue to be permissible only via a political action committee funded by voluntary contributions from individual employees and members.
A copy of the opinion may be found at www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf.