Court set to hear first campaign finance case
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed unsympathetic Tuesday to arguments that groups with a point of view on such subjects as gun rights or abortion should be allowed to make political donations.
Previewing an anticipated showdown over the broader new campaign finance law, the justices will decide by this summer if the 32-year-old federal donation ban is unconstitutional. They are balancing the free speech rights of people in nonprofit advocacy corporations against the government's interest in keeping political campaigns clean.
The government argues that the groups could be used to circumvent individual campaign donation limits, with little public disclosure about where money comes from. Advocacy organizations maintain that their members should be allowed to pool their money and use it to elect candidates who support their issues.
