What's at Stake in McDonnell v. United States

Date
Court Level
Supreme Court

For the last several years, five justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have been sympathetic to challenges to campaign finance regulations, and by putting a First Amendment gloss on corruption, McDonnell is hoping that bribery laws will be their next target. But as the Campaign Legal Center lays out in an amicus curiae brief, he simply goes too far. If McDonnell is successful in getting the Court to recognize a constitutional right to buy “access” and to extend protections for campaign spending to private gifts to elected officials, then government truly is for sale.