Emerging Issues: Citizens United
Key Points on the US Supreme Court ruling on the Citizens United Case
Constitutional scholars across the country are still pouring over the recent decision in the Citizens United case, to tease out the full impact this will have on elections in this country. In a nutshell, the Roberts Court overturned a six decade-long prohibition against spending corporate and union treasury money to directly campaign for or against federal candidates. Corporations and unions have been prohibited from spending money from their general funds on express advocacy at the federal level since 1947, when Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act.
Prohibiting corporations and unions from using treasury money to influence elections was previously upheld by the Supreme Court in Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce (1990), and most recently in McConnell v. FEC (2003) after the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). In McConnell, the Court noted that, "Congress' power to prohibit corporations and unions from using funds in their treasuries to finance advertisements expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates in federal elections has been firmly embedded in our law."
By striking down the ban on express political advocacy by corporations and unions, the Court has greatly increased the likelihood of spending by such groups to influence federal campaigns. It has also opened the door to the corrupting influence that flows from such expenditures, as corporations and unions use their spending, or the threat or promise of such spending, as a means to influence decision-making by Congress.
More to come on this issue...
