Posted: August 23rd, 2016

What was the holding in this case?

We will examine a recent case opinion issued by the U.S. Supreme Court that will cover many of the areas we will discuss this semester such as stare decisis, administrative law, statutory interpretation and application, case briefing, the role of the courts in interpretation laws, and appellate review of lower court decisions.
In January 2010, a divided Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission struck down decades old limits on corporate political expenditures, potentially reshaping the 2010 election landscape by permitting businesses and unions to spend freely on commercials for or against candidates. The ruling, which overturned two precedents, struck down not only a provision of the 2002 McCain Feingold campaign finance act limiting corporate funded political ads immediately before federal elections, but also federal laws dating to 1947, and state laws that were older still. Those earlier laws restricted corporations from directly funding political activity from their general treasuries.
Attached you will find the Supreme Court decision and a Wall Street Journal articled titled Court Kills Limits on Corporate Politicking. This case will serve as the source for the writing assignment in this course due on November 5, 2010. To complete this assignment, please
prepare a 7 page minimum submission that provides responses to the following questions in narrative format consistent with the format set forth in the course syllabus:
1. What was the holding in this case? What previous decisions were overturned? How did the justices vote in this case?
2. What is legal precedent? Why is precedent important? How does this decision impact precedent? Why is consistent application of precedent generally important for businesses, strategy, and planning?
3. What laws/case decisions were upheld in this decision and why? Which ones were struck down? Why were the laws/case decisions struck down?