Conservative Supreme Court Dumps Election Rules
Jan 21, 04:59 PM CST
Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court eased regulations prohibiting corporations from engaging in electioneering. Corporations and nonprofits can now spend without restraint to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress. This ruling overturns one hundred years of legislation prohibiting their involvement in the election process; consequently, corporations may now use money from their general treasuries to produce and run their own campaign ads. While corporations and nonprofits are still prohibited from direct contributions to candidates, funds may be used for to pay for both political advertisements and documentaries.
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority drastically overhauled federal campaign spending, which could impact the upcoming elections in November of 2010. This ruling also emphasizes the impact of the Republican appointed justices. Writing for the majority Justice Anthony Kennedy said that McCain-Feingold violated the First Amendment by suppressing their speech, a move that equates the free speech of corporations to that of individuals.
In the deeply divided Court, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in his dissent, “The court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation.” The majority ruling also struck down part of the McCain-Feingold Act, which prohibited corporate-paid issue ads in the last thirty day of election cycles.
– by Missy Wigley | Send this to a friend
