The 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, 08 C.D.O.S. 776, sent shock waves through the political community. By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations and unions have the same right as individuals to pay for election ads and other electioneering; in other words, for “political speech.” By an 8-1 vote, however, the court reaffirmed that financial disclosure laws are constitutional, even for independent election campaigns. Citizens United‘s impact was swiftly apparent — analyses of the 2010 and 2011 elections showed a dramatic increase in independent expenditures.

Although the court did not address whether corporations also have the same right as individuals to donate money directly to candidates, lower courts have already begun to take on this issue. On May 27, a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia held that because under Citizens United there is no distinction between an individual and a corporation with respect to political speech, “if an individual can make direct contributions within [campaign-finance] limits, a corporation cannot be banned from doing the same thing” (U.S. v. Danielczyk). There is a conflict among the courts — in Minnesota, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused to upset Minnesota’s long-standing ban on direct corporate contributions, finding that Congress could enact such restrictions as a way of deterring corruption (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life v. Swanson, (Case No. 10-3126, C.A. 8, May. 16, 2011)).

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