| McConnell v. Federal Election Commission | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||
| Argued September 8, 2003 Decided December 10, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Holding | ||||||||||||
| Money is property, not speech. Still, not all political speech is protected by the First Amendment from government infringement. | ||||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||||
| Chief Justice: William Rehnquist Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer | ||||||||||||
| Case opinions | ||||||||||||
| Majority by: Stevens, O'Connor Joined by: Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer Majority by: Rehnquist Joined by: O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter Majority by: Breyer Joined by: Souter, Ginsburg, Stevens, O'Connor Concurrence by: Scalia Concurrence by: Thomas Concurrence by: Kennedy Joined by: Rehnquist, Scalia Dissent by: Rehnquist Joined by: Scalia, Kennedy Dissent by: Stevens Joined by: Breyer, Ginsburg | ||||||||||||
| Laws applied | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Const. amend. I; 116 Stat. William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1 1924 – September 3 2005 was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure who served as an Associate Justice John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist. (born March 11, 1936) is an American Jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U For the Australian artist see David Henry Souter. David Hackett Souter (ˈsutɚ born September 17, 1939) has been an Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American Jurist. He has been serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15 1933 Brooklyn New York) is an Associate Justice on the U Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15 1938 is an American Attorney and Jurist. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress 81 | ||||||||||||
| Overruled by | ||||||||||||
| Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007) | ||||||||||||
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission v Wisconsin Right to Life Inc, 551 U Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003)[1], is a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of most of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, often referred to as the McCain– Feingold Act. Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past Court cases either in special series of books called reporters Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Constitutionality is the status of a law, a procedure or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable Constitution. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ( BCRA, McCain–Feingold Act,) is United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold (born March 2, 1953) is an American politician from the U
The case takes its name from Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, and the Federal Election Commission, the federal agency that oversees U. Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell Jr (born February 20 1942 is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky. The Commonwealth of Kentucky ( is a state located in the East Central United States of America. The Federal Election Commission (or FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the S. campaign finance laws.
Contents |
History
The case was brought by groups such as the California State Democratic Party and the National Rifle Association, and individuals including U. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is a non-profit ( 501(c(4) group dedicated to the protection of the Second Amendment of the S. Senator Mitch McConnell, then the Senate Majority Whip, who argued that the legislation was an unconstitutional infringement on their First Amendment rights. Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature Senator McConnell had been a longterm opponent of BCRA in the Senate due to his issues with its constitutional merits, and had led several Senate filibusters to block its passage. A filibuster, or "talking out a bill", is a form of obstruction in a Legislature or other decision-making body
In June 2003, the D. C. Court of Appeals issued a ruling on whether the law was constitutional. Court of Appeal, Court of Appeals, and Appellate Division redirect here for a list of specific courts using those titles see Court of Appeal That ruling never took effect, as the case was immediately appealed to the Supreme Court.
Oral arguments
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a special session on September 8, 2003. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. On Wednesday, December 10, 2003, it issued a complicated decision [1], totaling 300 pages in length, that with a 5-4 majority upheld the key provisions of McCain-Feingold including (1) the "electioneering communication" provisions (which required disclosure of, and prohibited the use of corporate and union treasury funds to pay for, broadcast, cable and satellite ads clearly identifying a federal candidate targeted to the candidate's electorate within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election), and (2) the "soft money" ban (which prohibited federal parties, candidates and officeholders from raising or spending funds not in compliance with contribution restrictions, and prohibited state parties from using such "soft money" in connection with federal elections)
Opinions
Justices Breyer, Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Ginsburg established the majority for two parts of the Court's opinion:
- With respect to Titles I and II of the BCRA, Justices Stevens, O'Connor wrote the opinion of the Court. Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15 1938 is an American Attorney and Jurist. John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist. For the Australian artist see David Henry Souter. David Hackett Souter (ˈsutɚ born September 17, 1939) has been an Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15 1933 Brooklyn New York) is an Associate Justice on the U John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist.
- With respect to Title V of the BCRA, Justice Breyer wrote the Court's opinion. Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15 1938 is an American Attorney and Jurist.
Two dissenting opinions were included in the decision:
- Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Ginsburg, and Breyer, dissented on one section of the part of the Court's opinion written by the Chief Justice. John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15 1933 Brooklyn New York) is an Associate Justice on the U Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15 1938 is an American Attorney and Jurist.
- The Chief Justice, joined by Justice Kennedy and Scalia, issued a 15-page dissent against the Court's opinion with respect to Titles I and V of the BCRA. Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U (born March 11, 1936) is an American Jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Three other justices wrote separate opinions on the decision:
- Justice Kennedy, joined by the Chief Justice, issued a 68-page dissenting opinion and appendix, noting that BCRA forces "speakers to abandon their own preference for speaking through parties and organizations. Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U "
- Justice Thomas issued a separate 25-page dissenting opinion noting that the Court was upholding the "most significant abridgment of the freedoms of speech and association since the Civil War. Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American Jurist. He has been serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. Freedom of association is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express promote pursue and defend common interests Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South "
- Justice Scalia issued a separate 19-page dissenting opinion, a "few words of [his] own," because of the "extraordinary importance" of the cases. (born March 11, 1936) is an American Jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Overturned Portions
On July 5, 2007, in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled that the organizations engaged in genuine discussion of issues were entitled to a broad, "as applied" exemption from the electioneering communications provisions of BCRA (those portions of BCRA that limited advertising that named a particular candidate by name within 30 days of a primary election and 60 days of a general election, if the ad was paid for by a corporation or union). Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Federal Election Commission v Wisconsin Right to Life Inc, 551 U Many observers argue that the exemption crafted by the Court effectively nullifies those provisions of the Act and overrules that portion of McConnell, but the full impact of Wisconsin Right to Life remains to be seen.
See also
References
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic