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kpete

(71,901 posts)
Tue Jan 3, 2012, 12:24 PM Jan 2012

Montana Supreme Court Says Citizens United Does Not Apply in State Elections!

Montana Supreme Court Says Citizens United Does Not Apply in State Elections!

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/MT-expenditures-decision.pdf

There is some big news on the Citizens United front this morning. The Montana Supreme Court has found that the State laws governing unlimited corporate donations to state candidates actually pass muster under that (horrible and flawed) decision.

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The three plaintiffs were a painting and dry wall company, owned and operated by the sole employee, Champion Painting; a sportsman’s (read 2nd Amendment shop) group called Montana Shooting Sports Foundation (MSSF), and this very shady group from Colorado, called the Western Tradition Partnership (WTP).

The basic premise of the suit is that even though Montana has a very straightforward process of setting up Political Action Committees (PAC) , which can then raise and spend unlimited money, as long as they report who their donors are, are being stifled.

The State contended that Citizens United did not apply because even though it struck down almost all limits on outside political expenditures by corporations, the Supreme Court did so because the DOJ failed to present that the government had a compelling interest in limiting speech. It applied the ‘strict scrutiny’ standard when doing so.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/03/1051056/-Montana-Supreme-Court-Says-Citizens-United-Does-Not-Apply-in-State-Elections!-?via=siderec

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