Free Speech -- 2006



Wisconsin Right To Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission   (U.S. Supreme Court)

Corporate political speech

The Supreme Court unanimously held 1/24/06 in a per curiam opinion that McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003), does not foreclose as-applied challenges to the constitutionality of section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Section 203 bars corporations from using general corporate treasury funds to fund targeted broadcast communications that reference a federal candidate for thirty days before a primary election or sixty days before a general election. The district court had interpreted McConnell as foreclosing Petitioner Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.’s First Amendment challenge to section 203 as applied to three particular communications and to grassroots lobbying communications generally. The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that, in its decision in McConnell “upholding § 203 against a facial challenge, we did not purport to resolve future as-applied challenges.” The Court therefore vacated the judgment and remanded for the district court to consider the merits of the as-applied challenge in the first instance. This case is important for any business that is engaged in activity subject to section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Decision Below: 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17226 (D.D.C. May 9, 2005) (unreported)