The McCutcheon case was a challenge to the constitutionality of the aggregate contribution limit that a person may contribute to federal candidates and political committees.
Under current law, a person is not only limited in the amount of money that he can contribute to an individual candidate for election to federal office, but to an aggregate amount that he can contribute to all candidates in any one election cycle. Such limits have been rationalized as supposedly being necessary to stop corruption or the appearance of corruption and to prevent circumvention of the individual limits.
CLDEF’s amicus curiae brief urged the Supreme Court to extend the Citizens United principle that singling out the subject matter of electioneering is per se a violation of the First Amendment, and that the courts should stop balancing away the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition that favor incumbent office holders to the prejudice of their challengers.
The Supreme Court agreed and struck down the aggregate contribution limits.
CLDEF Amicus Curiae Brief (May 13, 2013)