The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal brought by opponents of Arizona’s campaign finance law that they say violates the First Amendment. -db
Reuters
November 29 2010
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) – The Supreme Court said on Monday that it will decide another campaign finance law, taking up a challenge to Arizona’s system that provided money to political candidates who faced big-spending opponents.
The high court, in a decision criticized by President Barack Obama, ruled by a 5-4 vote in January that corporations have the free-speech right to spend freely to support or oppose candidates for federal office like president or Congress.
In the Arizona case, the justices agreed to hear and decide an appeal by opponents of the 1998 law arguing that it violated constitutional free-speech rights. The justices struck down a similar federal law in 2008.
Under Arizona’s state law, candidates who opt for public financing of their campaigns can get funds up to two times their base amount when outspent by privately funded rivals or targeted by independent group spending.
Supporters of the law said it was constitutionally sound, that it advanced free-speech values rather than burdening them, that it sought to deter corruption and that it placed no limit on how much privately financed candidates may raise or spend on their campaigns.
Opponents said the public money infringed on the free-speech rights of privately financed candidates and their contributors by inhibiting fundraising and spending, discouraging participation in campaigns and limiting what voters will hear about politics.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case in March, with a decision likely by the end of June.
Editing by Will Dunham.
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