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High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 23, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – September 9 could mark a watershed in campaign finance, as the Supreme Court hears a special argument for overturning long-standing rules that restrict corporations from buying political advertisements, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has used the case of Hillary: The Movie, a documentary that a lower courts decided fell under the definition of campaign advertising, to take on the larger issue of whether corporations should have the same right to political free speech as individuals.

If the court strikes down 1990 and 2003 rulings that limited corporate political spending, "this could take us back to the era when people referred to the senator from Standard Oil," said Trevor Potter, a former McCain campaign adviser, noting that corporate dollars could “drown out the speech of ordinary voters." Five out of nine justices have said they think the limits violate the First Amendment. The case will be Sonia Sotomayor's first.

FILE - In this April 9, 2008 file photo Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. speaks at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.
FILE - In this April 9, 2008 file photo Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. speaks at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Jason Miller, FILE)
New Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor smiles as she is given a standing ovation during a reception in her honor, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009,  in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
New Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor smiles as she is given a standing ovation during a reception in her honor, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
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Movie trailer for 'Hillary: The Movie.'   (HitleryClinton)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
Fondue
Aug 24, 2009 5:23 AM CDT
I was under the impression they want their country back. They only ones that have taken it are the corporations.
cognitivefilter
Aug 24, 2009 3:14 AM CDT
word my man. everybody's workin for wall street
stormkite
Aug 24, 2009 1:36 AM CDT
Why would they protest? This is what they WANT... money will be the only thing that matters, and nobody except the wealthy and their kissups will have any rights at all.

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