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| | | McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (docket #: 02-1674) (2003)
[Findlaw]
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Argument Date
| 09/08/2003 |
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Decided
| 12/10/2003 |
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Supreme Court Vote
| 5-4 |
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Note
| Various majority judgments were announced by different memebers of the Court. Hence, Justice Stevens spoke for the majority as to some issues while the Chief Justice spoke for the Court for other issues and Justice Breyer for one issue. |
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Supreme Court Ruling
| Most First Amendment claims denied |
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| | | Issue | 1. Whether the district court erred by upholding portions of the "soft money" provision (section 101) of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), Pub. L. No. 107-155, 166 Stat. 81, because it constitutes an invalid exercise of Congress' power to regulate elections under Article I, Section 4, of the Constitution; violates the First Amendment or the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment; or is unconstitutionally vague. 2. Whether the district court erred by upholding portions of the "electioneering communications" provisions (sections 201, 203, 204, and 311), of BCRA, because they violate the First Amendment or the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, or are unconstitutionally vague. 3. Whether the district court erred by holding nonjusticiable challenges to, and upholding, portions of the "advance notice" provisions of BCRA (sections 201 and 212), because they violate the First Amendment. 4. Whether the district court erred by holding nonjusticiable challenges to, and upholding, the "coordination" provisions of BCRA (sections 202, 211, and 214), because they violate the First Amendment. 5. Whether the district court erred by holding nonjusticiable challenges to, and upholding, the "attack ad" provision of BCRA (section 305), because it violates the First Amendment. | |
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Majority Opinion
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lead majority opinion, joint opinion issued Stevens, J., & O'Connor, J. (joined Souter, J., Breyer, J., & Ginsberg, J.), Rehnquist C.J (majority opinion), and Breyer, J. (majority opinion) |
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Dissenting Opinion
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Rehnquist, C.J., & Kennedy, J., & Thomas, J., Scalia, J., & Stevens, J. |
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Certiorari Granted
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06/05/2003 |
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Lower Court
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U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia |
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Oral Arguments
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Oral Arguments audio
[Oyez]
Transcript of Oral Arguments
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| Lawyers |
Floyd Abrams for National Association of Broadcasters
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| News Stories & Commentary |
Dworkin, Ronald, "The Curse of American Politics," New York Review of Books, October 17, 1996
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| Tony Mauro Analysis |
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| Opinion - Lower Court |
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| Other |
Adamany, D.W., & Agree, G.E., POLITICAL MONEY: A STRATEGY FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCING IN AMERICA (1975)
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BeVier, Lillian, "Campaign Finance Reform: Specious Arguments, Intractable Dilemmas," 94 Columbia Law Review 1258 (1994)
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BeVier, Lillian, "Money & Politics: A Perspective on the First Amendment & Campaign Finance Reform," 73 California Law Review 1045 (1985)
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Briffault, Richard, "Issue Advocacy: Redrawing the Elections/Politics Line," 77 Texas Law Review 1751 (1999)
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Smith, B.A., , "Faulty Assumptions & Undemocratic Consequences of Campaign Finance Reform," 105 Yale Law Journal 1049 (1996)
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Sullivan, Kathleen, "Against Campaign Finance Reform," 1998 Utah Law Review 311
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Sullivan, Kathleen, "Political Money & Freedom of Speech," 30 University of California Davis Law Review 663 (1997)
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Wilcox, C., & Joe, W., "Dead Law: The Federal Election Finance Regulations, 1974-1996, " 31 Political Science & Politics 14 (1998)
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