Supreme Court rules in Citizens United v. FEC that corporations and outside groups may spend unlimited sums on elections

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations, associations, and labor unions. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. The ruling struck down portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) that banned corporate electioneering communications. A follow-on ruling by the D.C. Circuit in SpeechNow.org v. FEC (March 26, 2010) extended Citizens United to authorize super PACs — organizations that can raise and spend unlimited sums independently of campaigns.