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Thursday, June 28, 2007
Law - More on "High court ends ban on corporate-funded campaign ads"
Updating this ILB entry from Monday (June 25th) about the Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Arthur E. Foulkes of the Terre Haute Tribune-Star writes today:
Terre Haute attorney James Bopp Jr. got his fourth career victory in the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday when the high court ruled to allow “grass roots lobbying” that mentions a federal political candidate’s name just before an election.The 5-4 decision came in the case of Federal Election Commission vs. Wisconsin Right to Life, whom Bopp was representing.
“It’s a huge victory,” Bopp said of the decision. “The court gave us more than we asked for.” * * *
“It was a huge victory,” Bopp repeated. “[The Supreme Court] has really seriously limited the application of that very broad [McCain-Feingold] law.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a co-author of the McCain-Feingold law, called the court’s ruling “regrettable,” but he characterized it as a “narrow exception” to the existing law.
Bopp disagrees, saying the court’s ruling makes it clear that the “blackout” period will only apply to advertisements that are clearly advocating for or against a specific federal candidate.
Bopp also believes that if McCain and others make enforcing the court’s Monday decision difficult, it’s possible a future decision would overturn the entire law.
“If there is defiance [to the court’s ruling] … I think they will strike down the whole law,” Bopp said.
This was the fifth case Bopp has argued before the Supreme Court – and his fourth victory in that setting.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 28, 2007 08:43 AM
Posted to General Law Related