In the first part of this video, NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Brown reports on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn campaign finance laws that limited corporate spending on campaigns for president and Congress.
The justices voted 5-4 to throw out key provisions of campaign finance laws that dated back to 1907 in a case that dealt with a conservative group's commercial attacking Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential election campaign.
In the second part of this video, Marcia Coyle of the National Law Review explains the how the controversial ruling will impact future political campaigns.
Quotes
"If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech," - Justice Anthony Kennedy
"This particular ban, [Justice Kennedy] said, was censorship, and its reach was vast. It suppressed speech by non-profit and for-profit corporations, big and small. He also said that federal campaign finance regulation today is so complex and so burdensome -- burdensome that it actually chills speech before the laws are even applied." - Marcia Coyle
Warm Up Questions
1. What is the Supreme Court?
2. What powers does the Constitution give the Supreme Court?
Discussion Questions
1. Why would some people support limits on corporate campaign contributions? How can the power of corporations impact elections?
2. What do you think of the Supreme Court's ruling? Do you think that there should be no limits on corporate spending on presidential and congressional campaigns? Explain your answer?
3. Why do campaign finance laws exist? Are they important?
4. Research campaign finance laws. What are some other restrictions on the ways that campaigns can spend money?
Additional Resources
Read the transcript of this report
