Opinion ID: 1342272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Bellotti Case

Text: In First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978) the United States Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a Massachusetts statute making it unlawful for a corporation to contribute funds or other valuable assistance to campaigns for or against any election issue or candidate. In that case the appellants, which were several national banking associations and business corporations, sought to contribute funds to publicize their opposition to a referendum to permit enactment of a state graduated personal income tax. The Supreme Court addressed the issue by examining whether the First Amendment protected the sort of speech which the appellants wanted to make. Finding the political subject matter of the proffered speech to be at the heart of the First Amendment's protection, the Court next determined that the corporate nature of the speaker did not deprive the speech of its constitutional protection. 435 U.S. at 776-84, 98 S.Ct. at 1415-1420. The Court then made short work of the State's arguments in defense of the statute. Having determined that the statute entailed state-imposed restrictions on constitutionally protected speech, the Court examined the State's justifications for the statute with exacting scrutiny. It found that there were no facts to justify the State's concern that corporate contributions would harm the electoral process. In turn the Court found that the statute's alleged protection of minority shareholders was both overinclusive and underinclusive and that the State's argument was, therefore, unconvincing. Id. at 786-95, 98 S.Ct. at 1421-1426.