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Supremes Let Up on Political Ad Limits

in 5-4 reversal, court rules 'issue ads' don't count as endorsements

By Greg Atwan,  Newser User

Posted Jun 25, 2007 2:30 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened one of the major strictures of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law today, relaxing the definition of prohibited ads in the run-up to federal elections. An increasingly familiar 5-4 majority declared that "issue ads," which stump for political platforms without explicitly endorsing a candidate, are protected speech.

The decision reverses a precedent as young as 2003, when a different lineup of justices sanctioned a ban on ads even mentioning a candidate's name. Writing for the majority, chief John Roberts bemoaned the diaphanous distinction between opining and endorsing, writing that "the First Amendment requires us to err on the side of protecting political speech rather than suppressing it.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Supreme Court Justice David Souter, one of nine justices of the Supreme Court who posed for news photographers in a rare session Friday, December 5, 2003.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Supreme Court Justice David Souter, one of nine justices of the Supreme Court who posed for news photographers in a rare session Friday, December 5, 2003.   (KRT Photos)
Chief Justice John Roberts gestures while speaking at a conference of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Huntington Beach, Calif. in this July 13, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
Chief Justice John Roberts gestures while speaking at a conference of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Huntington Beach, Calif. in this July 13, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)   (Associated Press)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., smiles at someone in the audience during a luncheon of the National Italian American Foundation Public Policy Forum, Wednesday, June 13,2 007, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., smiles at someone in the audience during a luncheon of the National Italian American Foundation Public Policy Forum, Wednesday, June 13,2 007, on Capitol...   (Associated Press)
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Full text of the decision and dissent
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John Roberts • campaign finance • First Amendment • McCain Feingold • issue ad • protected speech • Samuel A. Alito • US Supreme Court

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