Talk:Citizens United v. FEC

Potential Sources for Citizens United v FEC.

Epstein, Richard A. (2011). "Citizens United v. FEC: the constitutional right that big corporations should have but do not want". Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. 34 (2): 639+. doi:A257217068. Retrieved 3 October 2023. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); Unknown parameter |A257217068&v= ignored (help)

"Citizens United v. FEC: corporate political speech". Harvard Law Review. 124 (1): 75+. November 2010. doi:A245302603. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); Unknown parameter |A245302603&v= ignored (help)

Tuk28507 (talk) 19:46, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

Advertising the film was not prohibited under BCRA

The false claims in question: "Advertising the film would have been a violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act" in the Introduction section and "The United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that §203 of BCRA applied and prohibited Citizens United from advertising the film Hillary: The Movie in broadcasts" in the Case summary section.

The District Court's actual decision clearly stated that the FEC already exempted the advertisements under safe harbor protections (but disclosure/disclaimer requirements still apply):

"Citizens’ proposed advertisements present a different picture. The FEC agrees that Citizens may broadcast the advertisements because they fall within the safe harbor of the FEC’s prohibition regulations implementing WRTL. They did not advocate Senator Clinton’s election or defeat; instead, they proposed a commercial transaction—buy the DVD of The Movie. See WRTL, 127 S. Ct. at 2667; 11 C.F.R. § 114.15(b). Although Citizens may therefore run the advertisements, it complains that requirements of § 201 and § 311 of BCRA, 2 U.S.C. §§ 434(f)(2), 441d, impose on it burdens that violate the First Amendment."

Source: page 10 of Memorandum Opinion dated 01/15/2008 which can be accessed here https://www.fec.gov/resources/legal-resources/litigation/citizens_united_memo_opinion_pi.pdf or via the FEC's website here https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/#:%7E:text=Federal%20Election%20Commission%20that%20held,the%20ban%20on%20corporate%20contributions

The District Court's decision also notes that Citizens United first complaint was "that § 203's prohibition of corporate disbursements for electioneering communications violates the First Amendment on its face and as applied to The Movie and to the 30-second advertisement “Questions”9". Footnote 9, however, explicitly states: "Plaintiff’s challenge regarding the prohibition of “Questions” will be denied as moot. The FEC, in its filings and at oral argument, conceded that the advertisement is exempt from the Prohibition. (Opp’n to 2d Mot. for Prelim. Inj. at 17.)"

Source: ibid, page 5.

After the District Court's decision on this matter, the question of whether the advertisements were prohibited under 2 U. S. C. §441b was not argued again. Indeed, the Supreme Court decision clearly states:

"Citizens United sought to broadcast one 30-second and two 10-second ads to promote Hillary. Under FEC regulations, a communication that “[p]roposes a commercial transaction” was not subject to 2 U. S. C. §441b’s restrictions on corporate or union funding of electioneering communications. 11 CFR §114.15(b)(3)(ii). The regulations, however, do not exempt those communications from the disclaimer and disclosure requirements in BCRA §§201 and 311. See 72 Fed. Reg. 72901 (2007)."

Source: page 52 (or the first paragraph of section 4B) of https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf

Instead, the question that remained regarding the advertisements for the movie were whether or not disclosure and disclaimer regulations applied to them. Consequently, I will be editing the article in accordance with these facts. Nome379 (talk) 02:12, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Article Evaluation for Class

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

This article is extremely well-balanced, especially with regards to the public reaction following Citizens United. The article included statements from those who supported and opposed the decision as well as presented the opinions of businesses, the public (through polls), well-known individuals, those who held governmental positions at the time. Jaaason.li (talk) 18:20, 28 August 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Money and Politics

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 29 August 2023 and 14 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Tuk28507 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Aaroncohenoc.

— Assignment last updated by Aaroncohenoc (talk) 16:47, 19 September 2023 (UTC)

Box claims Stevens joined Majority

for Part IV. This is not clear to me inside the main article.Rich (talk) 04:22, 3 March 2025 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Informed Citizenship

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 30 January 2025 and 23 May 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Tsalmon1003 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Newmanliv.

— Assignment last updated by TBlack7205 (talk) 22:10, 6 May 2025 (UTC)