Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

130 S.Ct. 876 (2010)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Citizens United (P) wanted to make Hillary available through video-on-demand within 30 days of the 2008 primary elections. It feared, however, that both the film and the ads would be covered by §441b’s ban on corporate-funded independent expenditures, thus subjecting the corporation to civil and criminal penalties under §437g. P sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the FEC (D). It argued that (1) §441b is unconstitutional as applied to Hillary; and (2) BCRA’s disclaimer and disclosure requirements, BCRA §§201 and 311, are unconstitutional as applied to Hillary and the three ads for the movie. The District Court denied P’s motion for a preliminary injunction and then granted the D's motion for summary judgment.