Supreme Court Justice, Judgements & Decision: Court Strikes Down Election Campaign Donation Limits
Political campaign donors can now donate as much money as they wish as long as donations to individual politicians do not exceed $5,200, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
Prior to the ruling, donors could only give as much as $123,200 in total per cycle.
"The Government contends that the aggregate limits also serve that objective, by preventing circumvention of the base limits," Chief Justice John Roberts said. "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."
As expected, such a controversial ruling brought upon strong reactions on both sides.
"I am concerned that today's ruling may represent the latest step in an effort by a majority of the court to dismantle entirely the longstanding structure of campaign finance law erected to limit the undue influence of special interests on American politics," Sen. John McCain, a Republican, said after the ruling.
On the flip side, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell downplayed the possible issues that could arise as a result of the ruling and pointed towards the fact that limits on donations to individual politicians remains in place.
"It does not permit one more dime to be given to an individual candidate or a party -- it just respects the constitutional rights of individuals to decide how many to support," McConnell said.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House John Boehner related to reporters when he discussed his thoughts about the ruling, saying "You all have the freedom to write what you want to write, Donors ought to have the freedom to give what they want to give."
What do you think about the result of the ruling? Do you agree or do you disagree with it? Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments section located down below.
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