Groups Urge Justice Kennedy to Deny Request for Injunction

The US Supreme Court should reject pleas that it toss aside Montana’s law banning corporate campaign spending, two reform organizations said today.

Common Cause and Free Speech for People urged the justices to let the century-old Montana statute stand while the nation’s highest court reviews a Montana Supreme Court decision last month upholding the ban. In its ruling, the state supreme court distinguished Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act, passed in 1912, from the federal corporate campaign spending ban at issue in the US Supreme Court’s January 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision.

„In Montana glauben wir an Ehrlichkeit und ein faires Mitspracherecht. Die Menschen in Montana haben das Recht auf einen Tag vor Gericht verdient, und zwar auf der Grundlage unseres 100 Jahre alten Gesetzes, das uns vor dem korrumpierenden Einfluss von Firmengeldern geschützt hat“, sagte CB Pearson, Vorstandsmitglied von Common Cause Montana.

Last Thursday, American Tradition Partnership (ATP), a corporation which is challenging the Montana law, filed an application before the US Supreme Court requesting an immediate injunction preventing the state Supreme Court ruling from going into effect. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has given the State of Montana until 5 pm ET today to respond to ATP’s application.

“Montana’s highest court carefully studied state laws and precedents and concluded that corporate political spending can be regulated without endangering free speech,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “The Supreme Court should let that ruling stand; but if the Justices want to address this case, they should avoid a rush to judgment and take the time to carefully weigh the state decision.”

“The US Supreme Court should let the State of Montana be heard on this matter of critical importance to the integrity of its elections,” said John Bonifaz, co-founder and executive director of Free Speech For People. “The Montana Supreme Court considered a century of experience with the state’s Corrupt Practices Act. Montana deserves that same careful consideration from the US Supreme Court.”