Davis v. FEC

Davis v. FEC was a federal court challenge to the Millionaire's Amendment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The Millionaire's Amendment was upheld by a U.S. district court, but the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, struck down the Millionaire's Amendment as violating the First Amendment on June 26, 2008. Under the Millionaire's Amendment, when a wealthy self-financed candidate spent in excess of a specified threshold of personal funds, the Amendment provided for an increase in contribution limits and an elimination of coordinated party spending limits for such candidate's non-wealthy opponent. The Amendment also imposed additional disclosure requirements on the self-financing wealthy candidate. The Supreme Court invalidated all of these provisions.

district court

decisions / orders

To read the district court's opinion (August 8, 2007) upholding the Millionaires' Amendment, click here.

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supreme court

Decisions / Orders

To read the Supreme Court's 5-4 opinion striking down the millionaire's Amendment (June 26, 2008), click here.

Intervenor / Amicus Filings

To read the brief by the Legal Center, Democracy 21, Brennan Center and Public Citizen (March 26, 2008) in support of Appellee FEC, click here.

To read the amici brief filed by James Bopp of the Madison Center in support of Appellant Davis (Feb. 28, 2008), click here.

To read the amicus brief filed by the Center for Competitive Politics in support of Appellant Davis (Feb. 28, 2008), click here.

Appellant filings

To read Appellant’s brief (Feb. 20, 2008), click here.

Appellee Filings

To read Appellee’s (FEC) brief (March 28, 2008), click here.