Citizens United v. FEC Will Challenge McCain-Feingold
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in The Courts, Criminal Justice & Tort
In a couple weeks, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Citizens United v. FEC. The case involves Citizens United’s film, Hillary: The Movie, and the law of political censorship known as McCain-Feingold.
The creators of the film wanted to show it on TV during the election campaign. The FEC essentially said, “no, you can’t do that.”
The McCain-Feingold law bans the broadcast, cable or satellite transmission of “electioneering communications” paid for by corporations in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before the general election. That leaves out old technologies, like newspapers, and new ones, like YouTube.
The law, as narrowed by a 2007 Supreme Court decision, applies to communications “susceptible to no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.” It also requires spoken and written disclaimers in the film and advertisements for it, along with the disclosure of contributors’ names.
The net effect, Mr. Bossie said in an interview, is censorship.
“I can put it in as many theaters as I want across the country,” he said of the documentary. “I just can’t let anyone know about it.”
Last year, a three-judge panel of the Federal District Court here said the film was prohibited electioneering communication with one purpose: “to inform the electorate that Senator Clinton is unfit for office, that the United States would be a dangerous place in a President Hillary Clinton world and that viewers should vote against her.”
But that is not the only possible interpretation of the film.
For instance, in a brief in the Supreme Court defending the film, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said the film “does not differ, in any relevant respect, from the critiques of presidential candidates produced throughout the entirety of American history.”
Let’s hope the court takes this opportunity to take another bite out of unconstitutional restrictions on speech in the name of “campaign finance reform.”
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.