Federal judge rules corporations can make direct contributions to political candidates

A federal district judge in Virginia ruled that U.S. laws prohibiting corporations form contributing directly to candidates are unconstitutional given last year’s  Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. FEC. That ruling found that corporations and individuals have equal rights to unfettered political expression. The  judge wrote, “For better or worse, Citizens United held that there [...]

Federal appeals court upholds Minnesota campaign finance law

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Minnesota campaign finance law could require disclosure of independent expenditures for candidates and restrict corporations in their contributions to state candidates and parties. For MPR, Brett Neely quotes attorney Tara Malloy of the Campaign Legal Center who supported the law, “This is good news for Minnesota [...]

Fox to post political donations online

After donating over a $1 million to a business lobby and $1 million to the Republican Governors Association during the mid term national elections, News Corp. which owns Fox News, has pledged to publicly disclose their donations on their corporate web site. In the interim, News Corp. will also disclose political donations from January through [...]

Campaign finance experts warn that lack of transparency in contributions perverts political system

A group of campaign experts said that we are now seeing the adverse effects of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United as unlimited, undisclosed corporate money in elections allows the corporations power equal to that of the Democratic and Republican parties. -d Courthouse News Service October 29, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. (CN) – A group [...]

Law scholars suggest new rules for corporate spending on politics

In a paper in the upcoming edition of the Harvard Law Review, two law school scholars suggest that the freedom granted by the recent Supreme Court decision should carry with it new responsibilities to align their spending on political campaigns with the interests of their stockholders. -db Social Science Research Network September 1, 2010 By [...]

FEC agrees Citizens United is media so doesn’t have to disclose donors

The Federal Elections Commission ruled that the conservative Citizens United was a media organization and as such did not have to disclose the donors behind their documentaries. -db The Washington Post June 9, 2010 By Carol D. Leonnig The conservative political group Citizens United has won a ruling from federal election authorities that it does [...]

Congresswoman offers key amendment for bill requiring disclosure of corporate and union campaign expenditures

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, Representative Susan Davis has proposed an amendment to strengthen a new law to require disclosure of campaign expenditures by special interests. The amendment would require mandatory disclosure reports to be filed electronically with the Federal Elections Commission so they could be posted expeditiously on their [...]

Disputing Citizens United opinion: Reporters find campaign contributions lack transparency

Contrary to Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in the Citizens United case on campaign finance that with the Internet, information on corporate spending in political campaigns was more accessible than ever, Washington reporters going online to examine recent fundraisers were unable to determine which companies and special interests attended and how much money they contributed.-db [...]

Legislators introduce bill to soften impact of recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate campaign spending

House members have introduced a bill that would force disclosure of corporate expenditures on elections and ban foreign companies, federal contractors and bailout beneficiaries from spending on political campaigns.-db The Huffington Post April 20 2010 By Arthur Delaney Democrats hoping to blunt the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate spending on [...]

Public sides with Obama on tiff with Supreme Court over corporation money in elections

With the polls showing that 80 percent of the public is against unleashing special interest money in elections, analysts suggest that the president and others may have some leeway in stemming the effect of the Supreme Court’s  recent decision allowing unrestricted spending for and against political candidates. -db The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 15, 2010 By [...]

California legislators for amending U.S. Constitution to overturn Supreme Courts ruling on campaign finance

Two California legislators have introduced a resolution in the state legislature for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC arguing that the court decision wrongly gives corporations the same First Amendment rights as individuals and will allow them to use advertising to control the outcome of elections. -db [...]

Legislation needed to block corporation money in elections

A columnist for the Buffalo News says that now that the Supreme Court has unleashed the monster of corporate money in the political arena, it is left to Congress to enact a law to block the anticipated flood of special interest money in federal, local and state elections. -db The Buffalo News Opinion March 1, [...]

Federal judge scraps provisions of San Diego’s campaign-finance laws

In accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Citizens United case, a federal judge struck down several provisions of San Diego’s campaign-finance law and particularly a ban on contributions from political parties and a $500 cap on donations to independent expenditure committees. -db Courthouse News Service February 23, 2010 By Annie Youderian (CN) [...]

Democrats propose plan in response to Supreme Court ruling on campaign spending

To, in their words, close “the floodgates of big corporate money that would otherwise drown out the voices of American citizens,” Democrats in the Congress have proposed new restrictions on campaign spending through enacting a series of small steps starting with banning spending by foreign corporations. -db The Fresno Bee February 11, 2010 By William [...]

Supreme Court decision on Citizens United brings to forefront two views of First Amendment

The Supreme Court’s majority opinion written by Justice Kennedy and the dissent by Justice Stevens shows contrasting views of the First Amendment, one, that untrammeled free speech will eventually produce good results in a democracy, and, two, that free speech must sometimes be regulated to produce the free flow of ideas so essential to a [...]

Some say ‘Citizens United’ opinion may lead to ban on judicial elections

With a flood of money expected in judicial elections after the Supreme Court decision unleashing corporate money in political campaigns, some reformers are suggesting that the public will react adversely to that trend and abolish judicial elections. -db The National Law Journal February 01, 2010 By Tony Mauro For years now, judicial reform groups have [...]

Justices say decision on campaign finance influenced by concerns for freedom for media

In making their recent decision to dismantle key provisions of the campaign finance law, Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion, said that even though media are now exempt from restrictions on their expression, if the justices ruled to restrict the free speech of corporations, Congress could take that ruling and enact laws to restrict the media [...]