Opinion ID: 3011376
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Constitutionality of S 441b(a) on its Face

Text: In considering the $1,000 contribution limit at issue in Buckley, the Supreme Court stressed the importance of the right to association through support of the candidate of one's choice: [T]he primary first amendment problem raised by the Act's contribution limitations is their restriction of one aspect of the contributor's freedom of political association . . . [T]he right of association is a `basic constitutional freedom,' Kusper v. Pontikes, 414 U.S. 57, that is closely allied to freedom of speech and a right which, like free speech, lies at the foundation of a free society. Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U.S. 479, 486 (1960). In view of the fundamental nature of the right to associate, governmental action which may have the effect of curtailing the freedom to associate is subject to the closest scrutiny. NAACP v. Alabama , [357 U.S.] at 460-461. Buckley, 424 U.S. at 24-25 (internal citations partially omitted). Nevertheless, the Court concluded that the $1,000 limit was constitutional. The Court identified two principal reasons for upholding the limit. First, the Court recognized a strong governmental interest in deterring corruption and the appearance of corruption in campaign finance, particularly from large contributions. Id. at 28; see also id. at 30 (Congress was justified in concluding that the 15 interest in safeguarding against the appearance of impropriety requires that the opportunity for abuse inherent in the process of raising large monetary contributions be eliminated.). Second, the Court concluded that the $1,000 limit was narrowly tailored insofar as it still permitted individual donors to register their political preferences in a substantial way, reasoning that the expressive value of the contribution lies in the act of contributing rather than the amount given. See id. at 21. Accordingly, Buckley seems to leave open the question whether an outright ban on campaign contributions--such as that found in S 441b(a)--would pass constitutional muster. The government and the FEC argue that, even if Buckley left the door open for a constitutional challenge to an outright ban, Federal Election Comm'n v. National Right to Work Comm, 459 U.S. 197 (1982) (hereinafter NRWC), slammed the door shut. In NRWC, the Supreme Court addressed indirectly the issue of limiting direct corporate contributions to candidates. There, the Court upheld federal restrictions upon corporate solicitation of campaign funds from individuals found in a subsection ofS 441b441b(b)(4)(c)--that prohibits nonstock corporations from soliciting funds to be used for political purposes (through a separate segregated fund) from people who are not members of the corporation. See id. at 198 n.1, 205-11. Subsection 441b(b)(4)(c) permits corporations to make limited campaign contributions from separate segregated funds solicited explicitly for that purpose. See id. at 201-02. In upholding the statute, the Court suggested that Congress could prohibit direct contributions by corporations to candidates for public office, stating that The first purpose of S 441b, the government states, is to ensure that substantial aggregations of wealth amassed by the special advantages which go with the corporate form of organization should not be converted into political war chests which could be used to incur political debts from legislators who are aided by the contributions. See United States v. United Automobile Workers, 352 U.S. 567, 579, 77 S.Ct. 529, 535, 1 L.Ed.2d 563 (1957). The second purpose of the 16 provisions, the government argues, is to protect the individuals who have paid money into a corporation or union for purposes other than the support of candidates from having that money used to support political candidates to whom they may be opposed. See United States v. CIO, 335 U.S. 106, 113, 68 S.Ct. 1349, 1353, 92 L.Ed. 1849 (1948). We agree with the government that these purposes are sufficient to justify the regulation at issue. Id. at 207-08. See also Fed. Election Comm'n v. Nat'l Conservative PAC, 470 U.S. 480, 495 (1985) (stating that NRWC upheld the prohibition of corporate campaign contributions to political candidates). Although S 441b(a) was not directly at issue in NRWC, the Eleventh and Sixth Circuits have read NRWC to uphold the constitutionality of its ban on contributions from corporate treasuries. See Kentucky Right to Life, Inc. v. Terry, 108 F.3d 637, 645-46 (6th Cir. 1997); Athens Lumber Co., Inc. v. FEC, 718 F.2d 363, 363 (11th Cir. 1983) (en banc). There is some room for doubt as to whether the Court can be said to have held squarely that the ban in S 441b(a) is constitutional. NRWC stated that We are also convinced that the statutory prohibitions and exceptions we have considered are sufficiently tailored to these purposes to avoid undue restriction on the associational interests asserted by respondent. Id. at 208 (emphasis added). Moreover, the first purpose identified by the Court --limiting the effect of the advantage flowing from the corporate form--could be met by a limit on contributions from corporate treasuries instead of a ban; and the second purpose could perhaps be addressed in corporate charters and state laws regulating corporations. Nevertheless, we feel constrained to read NRWC, and the Court's statements on NRWC in Nat'l Conservative PAC, as at least strong suggestions that S 441b(a) is constitutional. Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990), which upheld a Michigan statute that prohibited corporations from using corporate funds for independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to candidates for state office, also implies that the flat ban in S 441b(a) is constitutional. The analysis proceeds from Buckley, which 17 distinguished independent expenditures from contributions: [A]lthough the Act's contribution and expenditure limitations both implicate fundamental First Amendment interests, its expenditure ceilings impose significantly more severe restrictions on protected freedoms of political expression and association than do its limitations on financial contributions. Buckley, 424 U.S. at 23. Austin upheld a ban on independent expenditures from the corporate treasury because it found the ban sufficiently narrowly tailored to the purpose of limiting the influence of the unique state-conferred benefit of the corporate structure, which allows corporations to amass large treasuries. See Austin, 494 U.S. at 660-61. Because Buckley treats limits on independent expenditures as more severe than limits on contributions, Austin suggests that a ban on contributions from the corporate treasury also would be constitutional if sufficiently narrowly tailored to achieve the goal. Austin also counsels that the ban on contributions from the corporate treasury here is sufficiently narrowly tailored to the interest of limiting the influence of corporate treasuries amassed under the state-conferred corporate structure. Austin reasoned that the Michigan statute prohibiting independent expenditures by corporations was sufficiently narrowly tailored to its purpose because, by permitting corporations to make independent political expenditures from separate segregated funds, it avoided an absolute ban on all forms of corporate political spending. See 494 U.S. at 660-61. The FECA also permits such indirect corporate political expenditures (via soft money), and under the teachings of Austin would thus seem to be sufficiently narrowly tailored to pass constitutional muster. We are mindful that the flat ban on corporate contributions has never been directly addressed by a holding of the Supreme Court, and that this issue involves important First Amendment values. Because of the strong implication we draw from NRCW, Nat'l Conservative PAC, and Austin, however, we feel compelled to reject Mariani's facial challenge to S 441b(a). It will be for the Supreme Court itself to decide otherwise. 18