Only minutes ago the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC, the aggregate limits campaign finance case.
Link to opinion is here.
Vote to Reverse: 5-4 (sustaining First Amendment claim)
Plurality Opinion: Chief Justice John Roberts (joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy & Alito)
Concurring Opinion: Justice Clarence Thomas (would overrule Buckley)
Dissenting Opinions: Justice Stephen Breyer joined by Justices Kagan, Ginsburg, & Sotomayor.
The issues before the Court were: (1) Whether the biennial limit on contributions to non-candidate committees, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(3)(B), is unconstitutional for lacking a constitutionally cognizable interest as applied to contributions to national party committees; (2) whether the biennial limits on contributions to non-candidate committees, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(3)(B), are unconstitutional facially for lacking a constitutionally cognizable interest; (3) whether the biennial limits on contributions to non-candidate committees are unconstitutionally too low, as applied and facially; and (4) whether the biennial limit on contributions to candidate committees, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(3)(A), is unconstitutional for lacking a constitutionally cognizable interest.
Commentary: SCOTUSblog (Amy Howe): “The Court rules in the Chief’s opinion that the aggregate limits do not further the permissible government interest in preventing quid pro quo corruption or the appearance of such corruption.”
Lawyers: Supreme Court
For Appellant Shaun McCutcheon: Erin Murphy (lead counsel) & Paul Clement
For Appellant RNC: James Bopp, Jr. (NB: Though the NRC brief was prepared by Mr. Bopp, Ms. Murphy argued the case for both McCutcheon and the RNC)
For Senator Mitch McConnell (amicus): Bobby Burchfield
For Appellee: Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, Jr.
Oral Arguments
Transcript
Audio file
Resources & Related Materials
Lower Court opinion (per Judge Janice Rogers-Brown) (argued by James Bopp, Jr., for Appellant)
Selected Supreme Court Briefs
Cert. Petition of Shaun McCutcheon & RNC (James Bopp, Jr., counsel of record)
Merits Brief of Appellant RNC (James Bopp, Jr., counsel of record)
Merits Brief of Appellant Shaun McCutcheon (Michael T. Morley, counsel of record)
Reply Brief of Appellant Republican National Committee (James Bopp, Jr., counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Sen. Mitch McConnell (Bobby Burchfield, counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of the Cato Institute in support of the Appellant (Ilya Shapiro, counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and the Media Institute in support of the Appellant (J. Joshua Wheeler, counsel of record)
Brief of Appellee FEC (S.G. Donald Verrilli, Jr., counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Brennan Center for Justice in support of Appellee (Daniel Kolb, counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Americans for Campaign Reform in support of Appellee (Charles Fried)
Amicus Brief of Democratic Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of Appellee (Paul M. Smith, counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Representatives Chris Van Hollen & David Price in support of Appellee (Seth Waxman, counsel of record)
Amicus Brief of Professor Lawrence Lessig in support of Appellee (Douglas T. Kendall, counsel of record)
For Additional Briefs, go here (ABA site)
Books, Symposia & Articles
Ronald Collins & David Skover, When Money Speaks: The McCutcheon Decision, Campaign Finance Laws & The First Amendment
Shaun McCutcheon, Outsider Inside The Supreme Court — A Decisive First Amendment Battle
SCOTUSblog Symposium on McCutcheon (forthcoming, 2014) (contributors: Jan Witold Baran, Richard Hasen, Burt Neuborne, Ilya Shapiro, & Fred Wertheimer)
SCOTUSblog Symposium on McCutcheon (Aug., 2013) (contributors: Erwin Chemerinsky, Ronald Collins, Robert Corn-Revere, Joel Gora, Justin Levitt, Tamara Piety, David Skover, & Adam Winkler)