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Constitutional Law Keyed to Stone
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission
Citation:
572 U.S. 185 (2014)Facts
During the 2011-2012 election cycle, Shaun McCutcheon contributed a total of $33,088 to 16 different federal candidates, in compliance with the base limits applicable to each. He wished to contribute $1,776 to each of 12 additional candidates but was prevented from doing so by the aggregate limit on contributions to candidates. McCutcheon also contributed $27,328 to several non-candidate political committees but wished to contribute $25,000 to each of the three Republican national party committees, which would have exceeded the aggregate limit on contributions to political committees. The BCRA imposed two types of limits on campaign contributions: base limits restricting how much a donor could give to a particular candidate or committee, and aggregate limits restricting how much a donor could contribute in total to all candidates or committees. For the 2013-2014 election cycle, the aggregate limits permitted an individual to contribute a total of $48,600 to federal candidates and a total of $74,600 to other political committees, for a combined total of $123,200. McCutcheon and the RNC challenged these aggregate limits as unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
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