The Supreme Court announced its long-awaited opinion in CitizensUnited on January 21, 2010. At six months, where do we stand? A number of states have passed laws or issued advisory opinions in reaction to the decision. Late last month Congress passed H.R. 5175 and the Senate might consider its version of the DISCLOSE Act soon. The Federal Election Commission issued a press statement and is currently considering two advisory opinion requests (AORs 2010-09 and 2010-11) related to Citizens United and another case, Speechnow. The draft opinions are available now.
Have the concerns of the Obama administration been proved by subsequent events or is it too early to tell? What role did Citizens United play in preventing health care reform from passing or the passage of historic financial regulatory reform? (That’s a little sarcasm on the internet, which can be dangerous.)
It’s been an exciting six months filled with much news about campaign finance law and lobbying. Thanks for sharing some of your time with me on this site and I look forward to following the many developments to unfold in the future.