At a Glance
About this Case
In 2000, plaintiffs Christine Beaumont and North Carolina Right to Life (NCRL) challenged the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting corporations and labor unions from making direct contributions to candidates, as the prohibition applied to a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose was to engage in political advocacy. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found for the plaintiffs, extending a narrow exception to the ban on the use of corporate or union treasury funds for electioneering expenditures so it also applied to contributions. The Supreme Court upheld the corporate contribution prohibition in 2003, stating in its 7-2 opinion that it could not hold for the plaintiffs “without recasting our understanding of the risks of harm posed by corporate political contributions, of the expressive significance of contributions, and of the consequent deference owed to legislative judgments on what to do about them.”