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Campaign Finance Lawâs Key Parts Upheld
Gee, didnât everyone say "Donât worry, the Supreme Court will throw this out? Full ruling here: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the two key parts of landmark campaign finance law designed to curb the influence of money in politics, a ruling affecting the 2004 and future presidential and congressional elections. The nationâs high court upheld as constitutional provisions that ban unregulated contributions known as "soft money" to political parties and that restrict some television and radio "issue ads" by corporations and unions right before elections. The ruling produced eight separate opinions, totaling more than 275 pages. The part of the ruling upholding the two key provisions was jointly written by Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day OâConnor, a key swing vote on the court divided between conservative and liberal factions, and was joined by Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. It concluded the lawâs two principal, complementary features -- Congressâ efforts to plug the soft-money loophole and its regulation of electioneering communications -- must be upheld in the main. Justice Scalia says it for me: Justice Scalia, in his opinion, writes, "This is a sad day for freedom of speech." He then adds, "Who could have imagined that the same Court which, within the past four years, has sternly disapproved of restrictions upon such inconsequential forms of expression as virtual child pornography...tobacco advertising...dissemination of illegally intercepted communications...and sexually explicit cable programming...would smile with favor upon a law that cut to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government." Posted by: Steve 2003-12-10 |
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