Illinois Backs Move To Preserve Montana Campaign Finance Law
WASHINGTON (CBS) -- Illinois is among the states backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws that restrict corporate campaign spending.
As WBBM Newsradio's Dave Marsett reports, the states led by New York, and the District of Columbia, are asking the Supreme Court to preserve the state-level regulations on corporate political expenditures that are on the books in Montana.
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The Virginia-based American Tradition Partnership, a conservative lobbying group, is asking the nhigh court to rule against Montana without a hearing, because the group says the state law conflicts directly with the Citizens United decision that removed the federal ban on corporate campaign spending.
The Supreme Court has blocked the Montana law until it can look at the case.
The Montana case has prompted critics to hope the court will reverse itself on the controversial Citizens United ruling. The 22 states and D.C. say the Montana law is sharply different from the federal issues in the Citizens United case, so the ruling shouldn't apply to Montana's or other state laws regulating corporate campaign spending.
But the states also said they would support a Supreme Court decision to reconsider portions of the Citizens United ruling either in a future case or in the Montana case, if the justices decide to take it on.
Legal observers say don't count on the Supreme Court reconsidering its decision.
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