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Citizens United vs. FEC

Works Cited

Batley, Melanie. "Poll: Near Majority Say Citizens United Hurting 2016 Campaign." Newsmax. 22 July 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Bentley, Nick. "What Is Citizens United? | An Introduction." Reclaim Democracy. N.p., 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

"Chapter 5 State and Local Government." Slideshare. LinkedIn, 28 May 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

"How Corporate Money Will Reshape Politics." Room for Debate. New York Times, 21 Jan. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Cox, John. "How Citizens United Changed Politics, in 7 Charts." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Levy, Gabrielle. "How Citizens United Has Changed Poitics in 5 Years." US News & World Report. 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Warren, Chris. "How Super PACs Work." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 18 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

"Who Is Helped, or Hurt, by the Citizens United Decision?" The Washington Post. Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Court Ruling

5-4 vote in favor of Citizens United:

  • Affirmed disclaimers ad disclosures requirements
  • Reversed decision on Electioneering Communication

PACS vs. Super PACS

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

Political Action Committee (PAC)

  • Non-profit and non-partisan organization that pools campaign contributions and donates funds to campaigns

Super PACS:

  • Created as a result of Supreme Court decision on Citizens United vs. FEC
  • Unlimited contributions for TV and radio advertisements
  • No direct contributions to candidates
  • Imposed new requirements:
  • Electioneering Communication
  • Disclaimers and disclosures
  • Any person/entity spending more than $10,000 must file a disclosure with FEC

Court Opinion

  • First Amendment protections extend to corporations

  • Political speech falls under First Amendment

  • Political speech restrictions not allowed due to speaker's corporate identity

Court Dissent

  • FEC not a "censor"
  • Historically, corporations have had a large influence on politics
  • First Amendment created for individual's rights not corporations

Pros vs. Cons

  • Pros:
  • Gives corporations a voice
  • Protects businesses from political discrimination
  • Grants corporations constitutional rights
  • Cons:
  • Creates monopolies
  • Businesses can "buy" elections
  • Public loses faith in efficacy government
  • Future ramifications: First Amendment rights applied to corporations

Effect on 2012 Election

Effects on 2016 Election

  • Americans are very divided on opinion of how the rules help or hurt candidates running for President
  • Increased campaign spending and contributions from Super PACs

Neutral

Opposed to the Ruling

In Support of the Ruling

“There may be very little difference between seeing eight ads or seeing nine ads (compared to seeing one ad or two). And, voters recognize that richer candidates are not necessarily the better candidates, and in some cases, the benefits of running more ads is offset by the negative signal that spending a lot of money creates.”

-Christopher Cotton, University of Miami School of Business professor of economics

“The bottom line is, the Supreme Court has just predetermined the winners of next November’s election. It won’t be the Republican or the Democrats and it won’t be the American people; it will be Corporate America.”

 

–Senator Charles Schumer, member of the Democratic Party

“What businesses, large and small, should do is spend time and money educating their employees, vendors and customers about candidates and officeholders whose philosophies and voting records would destroy or permanently damage America's free enterprise system.”

-Cleta Mitchell, campaign finance attorney for advocacy groups

Proceedings

Background

GAME

Trade your money in for AD space

Citizens United, a non-profit corporation, wanted to create a documentary about Hilary Clinton before the 2008 election

Super PAC

PAC

  • Citizens United brought case against FEC for unfair regulations

  • District Court granted FEC’s motion for summary judgement

  • Citizens United appealed to the Supreme Court

Goal was to run 3 advertisements promoting the film within 30 days of the primary election

Corporation

This was blocked by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)

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