MaxedOutMama
Monday, June 26, 2006
Randall V Sorrell
The Supreme Court published five opinions today, and Randall V. Sorrell (70 pages, pdf) is particularly interesting. Following Buckley, the court struck down Vermont's expenditure limit. In an innovation, the court found the contribution limit to be too low. Breyer:
...contribution limits that are too low can also harm the electoral process by preventing challengers from mounting effective campaigns against incumbent officeholders, thereby reducing democratic accountability. Were we to ignore that fact, a statute that seeks to regulate campaign contributions could itself prove an obstacle to the very electoral fairness it seeks to promote. Thus, we see no alternative to the exercise of independent judicial judgment as a statute reaches those outer limits.This is a very interesting ruling with major implications, and after I've read it thoroughly I might have more to write about it. I think it should be read and discussed.
