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Difficulty: MediumCampaign Finance and Citizens United v. FEC

Read the excerpt from the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010):

"Government may not suppress political speech on the ground that the speaker is a corporation. . . . [F]ractionalizing speech on the basis of the speaker's identity is deprecated by the First Amendment."

Which of the following was a direct consequence of this ruling?

  1. It permitted corporations and labor unions to make unlimited independent expenditures in political campaigns.Answer
  2. B
    It allowed corporations to donate unlimited general treasury funds directly to candidates' campaign committees.
  3. C
    It restricted political spending to individual citizens to uphold the core democratic ideal of popular sovereignty.
  4. D
    It required members of Congress to act as trustees, discounting the influence of corporate political advertising when voting on bills.

Answer

The ruling permitted corporations and labor unions to make unlimited independent expenditures in political campaigns.
The correct answer states that the ruling permitted corporations and labor unions to make unlimited independent expenditures in political campaigns. In Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court ruled that under the First Amendment, the government cannot restrict independent political expenditures by corporations, labor unions, and other associations, which directly enabled the formation of Super PACs.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided excerpt from the Citizens United v. FEC majority opinion.
The Court states that the government cannot restrict political speech based on the corporate identity of the speaker.
This establishes that corporations have First Amendment political speech rights.
2
Distinguish between independent expenditures and direct campaign contributions under the holding.
The Court ruled that independent expenditures do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption, whereas direct contributions remain subject to limits.
This allows for the identification of which type of spending was deregulated.
3
Evaluate the options to identify the correct downstream legal effect.
The option asserting that corporations and labor unions can make unlimited independent expenditures matches the legal holding.
This represents the direct constitutional impact of the decision, which also led to the rise of Super PACs.

Key Concept

The holding in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) ruled that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Campaign Finance and Citizens United v. FEC

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