Kagan, now in a robe, argues again for campaign finance limits

[TomCADem]

Source: Reuters

Kagan, who argued the groundbreaking Citizens United case in September 2009 and then joined the nine-member court in August 2010, departed from her usual practice of waiting to jump into the give-and-take. Within the first five minutes of the hour-long session she began firing off worst-case scenarios at lawyers representing the latest challengers to federal campaign finance law.

The newest and youngest justice, Kagan, one of the court's four liberals, has been heard largely in her strategic questioning on the bench, notable in the 2012 healthcare dispute, and in her fiery dissents. With the five conservatives often controlling key cases, she is not writing for the majority. But there are likely to be many chapters ahead. She is only 53, and when her predecessor John Paul Stevens stepped down in 2010, he was 90.

The challengers in Tuesday's case, Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon and the Republican National Committee, contend that federal limits on the total contributions a person can make in a two-year election cycle violate political speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In her questioning, Kagan raised the specter of an individual donor who stays within the base $5,000 limit for a Political Action Committee (PAC) but then - presuming the aggregate limits are lifted - contributes to 100 PACs. She theorized that money could be transferred to U.S. Senate candidates who would know of the original contributions and feel beholden to the contributors.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/09/us-usa-court-kagan-idUSBRE99804R20131009

[Loudly]

1. The Amendment:

It shall not be an infringement upon the rights of the People for Congress to limit by law the raising and expenditure of money in public elections.

[Sunlei]

2. SC always interesting"Verrilli said Congress could always write a new law, if it chose, changing.."

Justice Kennedy, who wrote the Citizens United decision, challenged Verrilli about the underpinning of the court's 1976 Buckley v. Valeo ruling that gave government more leeway to put limits on contributions compared to expenditures.

Verrilli said Congress could always write a new law, if it chose, changing the contribution limits.

That prompted Kagan to interject, "And General, I suppose that if this court is having second thoughts about its rulings that independent expenditures are not corrupting, we could change that part of the law." That would mean reversing Citizens United. Said Verrilli, "Far be it from me to suggest that you don't, your honor."

[gopiscrap]

3. Thank you Kagan