U.S. Supreme Court To Expedite Review Of Ruling Over Wisconsin Antiabortion Group's Appeal Of Campaign Finance Law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday announced that it will expedite a review of a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' three-judge panel ruling in favor of a Wisconsin antiabortion group's constitutional challenge to the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance law, the New York Times reports (Greenhouse, New York Times, 1/20). Wisconsin Right to Life in its lawsuit challenging McCain-Feingold was seeking permission to run television and radio advertisements within 30 days of a 2004 primary that mentioned Sen. Russell Feingold's (D-Wis.) name and focused on his opposition to several of President Bush's judicial nominees. The group claims that the campaign finance law's prohibition of such ads is unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in August 2004 unanimously rejected WRTL's challenge to campaign finance law provisions that prohibit the use of interest groups' "issue ads" during the weeks preceding an election. A three-judge panel in September 2004 upheld the district court's ruling, saying the Supreme Court in 2003 effectively barred constitutional challenges to the provisions of the law that the high court upheld. WRTL appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in January 2006 said that when it upheld in unanimous, unsigned opinion the law's provision concerning "electioneering communications" against a "facial challenge in the 2003 decision," it did "not purport to resolve future as-applied challenges." The justices ordered the district court "to consider the merits of WRTL's" challenge of the provision. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in December 2006 overturned key segments of the campaign finance law that restrict issue ads funded by unions or corporations, such as WRTL, during the weeks before federal elections (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/22/06).

Expedited Review, Reaction
The Supreme Court on Friday announced it would hear a free-speech challenge to the law in April, the Los Angeles Times reports (Savage, Los Angeles Times, 1/20). The "basic argument" at issue is how the Circuit Court in December 2006 analyzed the ads and found that they were "genuine" issue ads and not "thinly veiled" campaign commercials, the Times reports (New York Times, 1/20). The panel's ruling said that WRTL ads were not campaign ads but general issue ads and that the government did not demonstrate a compelling enough argument to impose restrictions on groups' free-speech rights. The decision also said that the portion of the McCain-Feingold law banning issue ads paid for by corporate or union money is unconstitutional because it imposes campaign finance restrictions on groups that are using ads to advance legislative policy (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/22/06). If the Supreme Court adopts the reasoning of the lower court, it would "really blow a hole" in the provision of the McCain-Feingold act banning issue ads, Richard Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School, said. According to Hansen, the "purpose of the provision was to close a loophole that was allowing large amounts of corporate and union money to be spent on ads intended to influence federal elections." He added that the court could reopen "that loophole for a large number of ads" (Sherman, AP/CBS News, 1/19). Supporters of the law, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have said that if the lower court's ruling is upheld, large corporate interests could broadcast ads that fault candidates for their positions on prevalent issues, the Times reports. James Bopp, an attorney who represents WRTL, on Friday said the provisions allow lawmakers to protect themselves from criticism, adding, "Politicians should not be able to use campaign finance laws, like McCain-Feingold, to prohibit citizen groups from engaging in grass-roots lobbying." The case likely will be decided in late June, according to the Times (Los Angeles Times, 1/20).

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