Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Short Summary: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 had previously banned corporations from independent political spending and direct contributions to campaigns or political parties. In 2008, Citizens United was not allowed to show an anti-Hillary Clinton movie.

Constitutional Issue: The issue here was whether the BCRA applied to nonprofits, or if the First Amendment’s free speech clause protected such political speech.

Holding and Constitutional Principle: The holding in this case was that corporations should be considered people and therefore their funding of “independent political expenditures cannot be limited.” This is considered a form of political speech, which is protected by the free speech portion of the First Amendment. 

• Further Impact: This led to the development of Super PACS and a significant increase in the amount of money contributed to political campaigns