More On Citizens United Rehearing

Court opens door to possibility of corporate political spending

Campaign finance watchdogs are concerned that a little-seen order issued on the Supreme Court’s final day could lead to tens of millions of corporate dollars being spent on television advertising — an ad blitz candidates would have difficulty countering.

On Monday, instead of ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the court issued a rare order for further arguments on the case.

By seeking new arguments on those cases, campaign finance watchdogs said, the court is poised to make a substantial ruling that could have wide-reaching consequences.

“The court, at the very least, is considering reversing more than 100 years of campaign finance precedent prohibiting corporate spending,” said Paul Ryan, associate legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. “It would be a pretty large step, and remarkable step, for the court to overturn a century of public policy.”

Overturning that ban would presumably allow corporations to begin spending money on political campaigns, either in support of or opposition to a candidate.

It would be the first time since Congress banned corporate political expenditures in 1947.

If the Supreme Court does overturn either case, the effects on political campaigns will be dramatic, said Marc Elias, a partner at Perkins Coie who served as general counsel on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) 2004 presidential campaign and who is heading legal efforts for Democrat Al Franken in the disputed Minnesota Senate contest.

“The ban on corporate spending on federal elections is at the center of our current campaign finance system,” he said. “If that were to change it would radically alter the system that we have.”