The First Amendment does not permit laws that force speakers to retain a campaign finance attorney, conduct demographic marketing research, or seek declaratory rulings before discussing the most salient political issues of our day.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Slip. Op. at 7.

Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s preference for campaign finance laws that don’t require an attorney to sort through, after listening to yesterday’s Senate Rules Committee hearing on Citizens United those seeking to exercise their rights might go without a campaign finance attorney at their peril.  At the hearing, for example, a Senator and a hearing witness couldn’t agree what was in the Fair Elections Now Act, a new proposal that would add to the hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of campaign finance regulations and explanations already on the books.  And in addition to campaign finance attorneys, you might want to add some corporate lawyers and tax lawyers to sort out some of the murkier questions left by the opinion.