Supreme Court rules in Buckley v. Valeo that campaign spending is protected speech

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its per curiam opinion in Buckley v. Valeo, striking down most spending limits in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The Court held that restricting expenditures necessarily reduces the quantity of expression and therefore violates the First Amendment, equating the spending of money with political speech. The ruling allowed unlimited independent campaign expenditures while upholding contribution limits to candidates as a legitimate anti-corruption measure.