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Constitutional Law Keyed to Stone
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission
Citation:
540 U.S. 93 (2003)Facts
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) was Congress’s response to the perceived circumvention of existing campaign finance laws, particularly through the use of “soft money” and “issue advocacy.” Prior to BCRA, federal law limited “hard money” contributions made directly to candidates, but political parties could raise unlimited “soft money” ostensibly for party-building activities and issue advocacy. In practice, this soft money was often used to influence federal elections through activities like voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts, and issue ads that effectively advocated for or against candidates without using express advocacy terms. BCRA sought to close these loopholes through several key provisions: Title I banned national political parties from raising or spending soft money and restricted state and local parties from using soft money for federal election activities; Title II regulated “electioneering communications” by corporations and unions; and other titles imposed various disclosure requirements and restrictions. Senator McConnell and numerous other plaintiffs challenged these provisions as unconstitutional restrictions on political speech and association protected by the First Amendment.
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