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June 25, 2012

Rep. Schiff Condemns Supreme Court Decision in Montana Campaign Finance Case

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) issued the following statement after the Supreme Court issued a summary reversal of the Montana Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a state law that prohibited corporate spending in state elections, similar to the Court’s Citizens United decision:

“The Supreme Court’s decision today in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock today – overturning Montana's corporate election spending limits – is another grave disappointment. The Supreme Court had the opportunity, as some Justices urged, to revisit its disastrous decision in Citizens United in light of the torrent of vast corporate and independent expenditures that have been unleashed since that decision.

“Instead, the Court doubled down on its flawed decision. Regrettably, this makes a Constitutional Amendment – such as the one I introduced last week – all the more necessary. The tremendous amount of unregulated and often anonymous spending now flooding our elections is the most significant threat to the health of our democracy in decades.”

Schiff’s amendment, drafted by Constitutional Scholar Laurence H. Tribe, provides simply:

"Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to forbid Congress or the states from imposing content-neutral limitations on private campaign contributions or independent political campaign expenditures. Nor shall this Constitution prevent Congress or the states from enacting systems of public campaign financing, including those designed to restrict the influence of private wealth by offsetting campaign spending or independent expenditures with increased public funding.”