McConnell v. Federal Election Commission
| McConnell v. Federal Election Commission | |
|---|---|
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| Argued September 8, 2003 Decided December 10, 2003 |
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| Full case name | Addison Mitchell McConnell v. Federal Election Commission |
| Citations | 540 U.S. 93 (more)
124 S. Ct. 619; 157 L. Ed. 2d 491; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 9195; 72 U.S.L.W. 4015; 17 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 13
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| Prior history | Mixed ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
| Holding | |
| Not all political speech is protected by the First Amendment from government infringement. United States District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed in part, reversed in part. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stevens, O'Connor, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Majority | Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter |
| Majority | Breyer, joined by Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg |
| Concurrence | Scalia |
| Concurrence | Thomas, joined by Scalia (in part) |
| Concur/dissent | Kennedy, joined by Rehnquist (in full); Scalia, Thomas (in part) |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Scalia, Kennedy |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I; 116 Stat. 81 | |
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Overruled by
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| Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) (in part) | |
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of most of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), often referred to as the McCain–Feingold Act.
The case takes its name from Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, and the Federal Election Commission, the federal agency that oversees U.S. campaign finance laws.
It was partially overruled by Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).
The case was brought by groups such as the California Democratic Party and the National Rifle Association, and individuals including U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, then the Senate Majority Whip, who argued that the legislation was an unconstitutional infringement on their First Amendment rights. Senator McConnell had been a longtime opponent of BCRA in the Senate, and had led several Senate filibusters to block its passage.
In early 2002, a multi-year effort by Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold to reform the way money is raised and spent on political campaigns culminated in the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (the so-called McCain-Feingold bill). Its key provisions were 1) a ban on unrestricted ("soft money") donations made directly to political parties (often by corporations, unions, or wealthy individuals) and on the solicitation of those donations by elected officials; 2) limits on the advertising that unions, corporations, and non-profit organizations can engage in up to 60 days prior to an election; and 3) restrictions on political parties' use of their funds for advertising on behalf of candidates (in the form of "issue ads" or "coordinated expenditures").
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