‘Citizens United,’ Montana law struck down by high court

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Montana law, in a 5-4 ruling, that limits corporate spending on elections made clear that the outrage generated by the 2010 “Citizens Untied” decision has done nothing to sway the verdict of the justices. Bob Biersack of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics said, “Nobody’s moved, the general principles seem to be the same. They weren’t persuaded that specific circumstances in a specific context make much difference. We’re still where we were.”

The high court’s verdict declares that the “Citizens United” decision, which permitted unlimited spending by corporations and special interest groups to influence elections, also applies to state and local elections. Republican Senator John McCain and 22 other states supported Montana and argued that its 1912 law limiting corporate influence in elections needed to remain in place due to the state’s history of election interference by its mining industry “copper kings.” Four justices of the high court agreed, however, they were overruled by five conservative justices. The justices said that “Montana’s arguments in support of the judgment below either were already rejected in Citizens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case.” In “Citizens United,” the court ruled that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” Conservative outside groups alone are set to spend more than $1billion to influence the 2012 general election.