McCutcheon v. Fed. Election Comm'n

• Decision Date: 02 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–536.,12–536.
• Parties: Shaun McCUTCHEON, et al., Appellants v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

572 U.S. 185

134 S.Ct. 1434

188 L.Ed.2d 468

Shaun McCUTCHEON, et al., Appellants

v.FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.

No. 12–536.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued Oct. 8, 2013.

Decided April 2, 2014.

Erin E. Murphy, New York, NY, for Appellants.

Bobby R. Burchfield, Washington, DC, for Senator Mitch Connell as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the Appellants.

Donald B. Verrilli, Solicitor General, for Appellee.

Erin E. Murphy, Bancroft PLLC, Washington, DC, Dan Backer, Paul Henry Jossey, DB Capitol Strategies, PLLC, Alexandria, VA, Michael T. Morley, Counsel of Record, Cranford, NJ, Jerad Wayne Najvar, Najvar Law Firm, Houston, TX, for Appellant Shaun McCutcheon.

Stephen M. Hoersting, Dayton, OH, James Bopp, Jr., Counsel of Record, Richard E. Coleson, Anita Y. Woudenberg, The Bopp Law Firm, PC, Terre Haute, IN, for Appellant Republican National Committee.

Lisa J. Stevenson, Deputy General Counsel, Kevin Deeley, Adav Noti, Acting Associate General Counsels, Charles Kitcher, Attorney, Federal Election Commission, Washington, D.C., Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Solicitor General, Counsel of Record, Malcolm L. Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General, Eric J. Feigin, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Dan Backer, Paul Henry Jossey, DB Capitol Strategies, PLLC, Washington, DC, Jerad Wayne Najvar, Najvar Law Firm, Houston, TX, Michael T. Morley, Counsel of Record, Cranford, NJ, for Appellant.

Chief Justice ROBERTS announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which Justice SCALIA, Justice KENNEDY, and Justice ALITO join.

There is no right more basic in our democracy than the right to participate in electing our political leaders. Citizens can exercise that right in a variety of ways: They can run for office themselves, vote, urge others to vote for a particular candidate, volunteer to work on a campaign, and contribute to a candidate's campaign. This case is about the last of those options.

The right to participate in democracy through political contributions is protected by the First Amendment, but that right is not absolute. Our cases have held that Congress may regulate campaign contributions to protect against corruption or the appearance of corruption. See, e.g., Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 26–27, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976) (per curiam ). At the same time, we have made clear that Congress may not regulate contributions simply to reduce the amount of money in politics, or to restrict the political participation of some in order to enhance the relative influence of others. See, e.g., Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, 564 U.S. ––––, ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2806, 2825–2826, 180 L.Ed.2d 664 (2011).

Many people might find those latter objectives attractive: They would be delighted to see fewer television commercials touting a candidate's accomplishments or disparaging an opponent's character. Money in politics may at times seem repugnant to some, but so too does much of what the First Amendment vigorously protects. If the First Amendment protects flag burning, funeral protests, and Nazi parades—despite the profound offense such spectacles cause—it surely protects political campaign speech despite popular opposition. See Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S.Ct. 2533, 105 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989) ; Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 1207, 179 L.Ed.2d 172 (2011) ; National Socialist Party of America v. Skokie, 432 U.S. 43, 97 S.Ct. 2205, 53 L.Ed.2d 96 (1977) (per curiam ). Indeed, as we have emphasized, the First Amendment "has its fullest and most urgent application precisely to the conduct of campaigns for political office." Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy, 401 U.S. 265, 272, 91 S.Ct. 621, 28 L.Ed.2d 35 (1971).

In a series of cases over the past 40 years, we have spelled out how to draw the constitutional line between the permissible goal of avoiding corruption in the political process and the impermissible desire simply to limit political speech. We have said that government regulation may not target the general gratitude a candidate may feel toward those who support him or his allies, or the political access such support may afford. "Ingratiation and access ... are not corruption." Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n, 558 U.S. 310, 360, 130 S.Ct. 876, 175 L.Ed.2d 753 (2010). They embody a central feature of democracy—that constituents support candidates who share their beliefs and interests, and candidates who are elected can be expected to be responsive to those concerns.

Any regulation must instead target what we have called "quid pro quo " corruption or its appearance. See id., at 359, 130 S.Ct. 876. That Latin phrase captures the notion of a direct exchange of an official act for money. See McCormick v. United States, 500 U.S. 257, 266, 111 S.Ct. 1807, 114 L.Ed.2d 307 (1991). "The hallmark of corruption is the financial quid pro quo : dollars for political favors." Federal Election Comm'n v. National Conservative Political Action Comm., 470 U.S. 480, 497, 105 S.Ct. 1459, 84 L.Ed.2d 455 (1985). Campaign finance restrictions that pursue other objectives, we have explained, impermissibly inject the Government "into the debate over who should govern." Bennett, supra, at ––––, 131 S.Ct., at 2826. And those who govern should be the last people to help decide who should govern.

The statute at issue in this case imposes two types of limits on campaign contributions. The first, called base limits, restricts how much money a donor may contribute to a particular candidate or committee. 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(1). The second, called aggregate limits, restricts how much money a donor may contribute in total to all candidates or committees. § 441a(a)(3).

This case does not involve any challenge to the base limits, which we have previously upheld as serving the permissible objective of combatting corruption. The Government contends that the aggregate limits also serve that objective, by preventing circumvention of the base limits. We conclude, however, that the aggregate limits do little, if anything, to address that concern, while seriously restricting participation in the democratic process. The aggregate limits are therefore invalid under the First Amendment.

I

A

For the 2013–2014 election cycle, the base limits in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), permit an individual to contribute up to $2,600 per election to a candidate ($5,200 total for the primary and general elections); $32,400 per year to a national party committee;¹ $10,000 per year to a state or local party committee; and $5,000 per year to a political action committee, or "PAC." 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(1) ; 78 Fed.Reg. 8532 (2013).² A national committee, state or local party committee, or multicandidate PAC may in turn contribute up to $5,000 per election to a candidate. § 441a(a)(2).³

The base limits apply with equal force to contributions that are "in any way earmarked or otherwise directed through an intermediary or conduit" to a candidate. § 441a(a)(8). If, for example, a donor gives money to a party committee but directs the party committee to pass the contribution along to a particular candidate, then the transaction is treated as a contribution from the original donor to the specified candidate.

For the 2013–2014 election cycle, the aggregate limits in BCRA permit an individual to contribute a total of $48,600 to federal candidates and a total of $74,600 to other political committees. Of that $74,600, only $48,600 may be contributed to state or local party committees and PACs, as opposed to national party committees. § 441a(a)(3) ; 78 Fed.Reg. 8532. All told, an individual may contribute up to $123,200 to candidate and noncandidate committees during each two-year election cycle.

The base limits thus restrict how much money a donor may contribute to any particular candidate or committee; the aggregate limits have the effect of restricting how many candidates or committees the donor may support, to the extent permitted by the base limits.

B

In the 2011–2012 election cycle, appellant Shaun McCutcheon contributed a total of $33,088 to 16 different federal candidates, in compliance with the base limits applicable to each. He alleges that he wished to contribute $1,776 to each of 12 additional candidates but was prevented from doing so by the aggregate limit on contributions to candidates. McCutcheon also contributed a total of $27,328 to several noncandidate political committees, in compliance with the base limits applicable to each. He alleges that he wished to contribute to various other political committees, including $25,000 to each of the three Republican national party committees, but was prevented from doing so by the aggregate limit on contributions to political committees. McCutcheon further alleges that he plans to make similar contributions in the future. In the 2013–2014 election cycle, he again wishes to contribute at least $60,000 to various candidates and $75,000 to non-candidate political committees. Brief for Appellant McCutcheon 11–12.

Appellant Republican National Committee is a national political party committee charged with the general management of the Republican Party. The RNC wishes to receive the contributions that McCutcheon and similarly situated individuals would like to make—contributions otherwise permissible under the base limits for national party committees but foreclosed by the aggregate limit on contributions to political committees.

In June 2012, McCutcheon and the RNC filed a complaint before a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. See BCRA § 403(a), 116 Stat. 113–114. McCutcheon and the RNC asserted that the aggregate limits on contributions to candidates and to noncandidate political committees were unconstitutional under the First Amendment. They moved for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the...