By Michael Tackett Special To The Sun Originally published May 3, 2003
WASHINGTON - Striking down key portions of a politically popular law, a three-judge panel ruled yesterday that a ban on "soft money" contributions from corporations and unions to political parties was unconstitutional, ensuring that the question of how federal campaigns are financed will have to be settled by the Supreme Court.
After years of debate, Congress approved the landmark campaign finance law last year with the goal of limiting the corrupting influence of money in politics.
The law - known by the names of its primary sponsors, Sens. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Russell D. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat - also prohibited parties from paying for advertising that purports to be issue-oriented but often supports specific candidates.
By a 2-1 vote, the special federal panel ruled that political parties - as they could before - are permitted to raise money in essentially unlimited amounts from corporations and unions for party-building political activities such as get-out-the-vote drives. The judges upheld the ban on using money for issue advertising in some cases, however.
In another blow to the law, the court struck down a section that barred a broad range of interest groups from airing issue ads in a candidate's congressional district within a month before a primary or two months before a general election.
The court essentially found that the law infringed on the constitutional protections of free speech. Paid political speech, the judges said, is no different from other forms of communication protected by the First Amendment.
