Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction prohibiting the Federal Election Commission from enforcing contribution limits against SpeechNow.org and its donors.
The ruling essentially means that the group–which describes itself as “an independent speech group of individuals dedicated to promoting and protecting our First Amendment rights to free speech and for the freedom to assemble”–may accept unlimited donations to support its efforts to protect the First Amendment at the ballot box.
The injunction comes on the heels of a March ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. In that decision, an en banc court unanimously struck down a ceiling on contributions to independent political groups that desire to spend money directly to support or oppose candidates in federal elections. That ruling was the first to apply and expand the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down limits on corporate expenditures in federal campaigns.
A press release issued by the Center for Competitive Politics and describing the impact of the decision is available here.
This post was written by Joshua Bolinger.
