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141-440: Super PACs were made possible by two judicial decisions in 2010: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and, two months later, Speechnow.org v. FEC . In Speechnow.org , the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that PACs that did not make contributions to candidates, parties, or other PACs could accept unlimited contributions from individuals, unions, and corporations (both for profit and not-for-profit) for

282-480: A 2017 CPI analysis, "Outreach Calling, raised more than $ 118 million on behalf of about two dozen charities from 2011 to 2015", retaining $ 106 million. This left c. 10.3 percent or $ 12.2 million, for the non-profit charities and those they serve - homeless veterans, breast cancer survivors, disabled police officers, and children with leukemia. In the United States, it is legal for for-profit telemarketers to keep 90% of

423-414: A 2020 report from OpenSecrets , between 2010 and 2020, the ten largest donors and their spouses spent a total of $ 1.2 billion on federal elections. In the 2018 elections, this group accounted for around 7% of all election-related giving, up from less than 1% a decade prior. Over the decade, election-related spending by non-partisan independent groups jumped to $ 4.5 billion, whereas from 1990 to 2010

564-501: A book was being published ... and it was critical of a candidate, that [the government] could stop publication". According to a 2012 retrospective article in The New Yorker by Jeffrey Toobin , the court planned to rule on the narrow question that had originally been presented: Can Citizens United show the film? At the conference among the justices after oral argument, the vote was 5–4 in favor of Citizens United being allowed to show

705-523: A broad prohibition of independent expenditures by corporations in ballot initiatives and referendums. The majority argued that the First Amendment purposefully keeps the government from "rationing" speech and interfering in the marketplace of ideas , and it is not up to legislatures or courts to create a sense of "fairness" by restricting speech. On the other hand, the court found that BCRA Sections 201 and 311, which require disclosure of information of

846-500: A business corporation as merely another way that individuals might choose to organize their association with one another to pursue their common expressive aims is worse than unrealistic; it obscures the very real injustice and distortion entailed in the phenomenon of some people using other people's money to support candidates they have made no decision to support, or to oppose candidates they have made no decision to oppose." Cass Sunstein of Harvard University listed Citizens United as

987-418: A candidate's former staff or associates. In the 2012 election campaign, most of the money given to super PACs came from wealthy individuals, not corporations. According to data from OpenSecrets , the top 100 individual super PAC donors in 2011–2012 made up just 3.7% of contributors, but accounted for more than 80% of the total money raised, while less than 0.5% of the money given to "the most active super PACs"

1128-487: A case-by-case basis. Thomas's primary argument was that anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment and that making contributor lists public makes the contributors vulnerable to retaliation. Thomas also expressed concern that such retaliation could extend to retaliation by elected officials. A dissenting opinion by Justice John Paul Stevens was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Stephen Breyer , and Sonia Sotomayor . To emphasize his unhappiness with

1269-480: A film that was critical of Hillary Clinton , and to air the movie on DirecTV . The FEC found this plan to be in violation of the BCRA, including Section 203 which defined an "electioneering communication" as a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that mentioned a candidate within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary, and prohibited such expenditures by corporations and labor unions. The FEC prohibited

1410-449: A general election. The FEC dismissed the complaint after finding no evidence that advertisements featuring a candidate within the proscribed time limits had actually been made. In response, Citizens United produced the documentary Celsius 41.11 , which is highly critical of both Fahrenheit 9/11 and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry . The FEC, however, held that showing Celsius 41.11 and advertisements for it would violate

1551-449: A joke that there's no coordination between these individual super PACs and the candidates." As of mid-2015, despite receiving 29 complaints about coordination between campaigns and super PACs, "FEC has yet to open an investigation". According to Open Secrets, in the 2019–2020 cycle (as of October 29, 2022) 2,415 groups organized as super PACs; they had reported total receipts of a little over $ 2.5 billion and total independent expenditures of

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1692-498: A little under $ 1.3 billion. In the 2024 election cycle, there were 2,458 Super PACs that raised $ 4,290,768,955 and spent $ 2,727,234,077. Because super PACs were able to coordinate with campaigns on canvassing for the first time, Donald Trump 's campaign relied on Elon Musk 's America PAC , a super PAC, to lead his get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , 558 U.S. 310 (2010),

1833-530: A member of the Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform , wrote that "The history of campaign finance reform is the history of incumbent politicians seeking to muzzle speakers, any speakers, particularly those who might publicly criticize them and their legislation. It is a lot easier to legislate against unions, gun owners, 'fat cat' bankers, health insurance companies and any other industry or 'special interest' group when they can't talk back." The editorial board of

1974-473: A newspaper or magazine done this?" More than 100 newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites cited CPI's report, The Climate Change Lobby Explosion , an analysis of Senate records showing that the number of climate lobbyists had grown by three hundred percent, numbering four for every Senator. Tobacco Underground , an ongoing project tracing the global trade in smuggled cigarettes, produced by CPI's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists,

2115-411: A piece arguing that due to a statistically insignificant correlation coefficient between campaign donations and winning contracts, "CPI has no evidence to support its allegations." CPI's LobbyWatch series of reports started with its first reports in 2005. In their January 2005 publication entitled Pushing Prescriptions , CPI revealed that major pharmaceutical companies were the number one lobbyist in

2256-493: A portion of the 2003 precedent McConnell v. FEC that upheld the BCRA restriction of corporate spending on electioneering communications. The majority also held that the free press clause of the First Amendment protects associations of individuals in addition to individual speakers, and further that the First Amendment does not allow prohibitions of speech based on the identity of the speaker. Corporations, as associations of individuals, therefore have free speech rights under

2397-418: A progressive media watchdog, has described CPI as " progressive ." CPI's first report, America's Frontline Trade Officials , reported that nearly half of White House trade officials studied over a fifteen-year period became lobbyists for countries or overseas corporations after retirement. According to Lewis, it "prompted a Justice Department ruling, a General Accounting Office report, a Congressional hearing,

2538-446: A result of the court's decision. Three wrote that the effects would be minimal or positive: Christopher Cotton wrote that "There may be very little difference between seeing eight ads or seeing nine ads... And, voters recognize that richer candidates are not necessarily the better candidates, and in some cases, the benefit of running more ads is offset by the negative signal that spending a lot of money creates. Eugene Volokh stated that

2679-429: A series of articles including " Toxic clout: how Washington works (badly)" and "How industry scientists stalled action on carcinogen ." In 2013, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the results of a 15-month-long investigation based on 260 gigabytes of data regarding the ownership of secret offshore bank accounts. The data was obtained by Gerard Ryle as a result of his investigation into

2820-756: A staff of 40 full-time Washington-based reporters who partnered with a network of writers and editors in more than 25 countries. Years later, Lewis said he decided to leave his position at CPI because "he didn't want it to become 'an institution that was Chuck's Excellent Adventure". Lewis' departure surprised and upset philanthropists Herb and Marion Sandler, who had partially funded the CPI's activities. In December 2004, CPI's board of directors chose television journalist Roberta Baskin as Lewis's successor. Baskin came to CPI after directing consumer investigations for ABC News's 20/20 and serving as Washington correspondent for PBS's NOW with Bill Moyers . Lewis wrote that "most of

2961-501: A staff writer covering lobbying and influence for CQ Roll Call , "made the first identifiable, published reference to 'super PAC' as it's known today while working at National Journal , writing on June 26, 2010, of a group called Workers' Voices, that it was a kind of "'super PAC' that could become increasingly popular in the post-Citizens United world." According to FEC advisories , super PACs are not allowed to coordinate directly with candidates or political parties. This restriction

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3102-615: A way of underlying the "ultimate purpose of investigative journalism" which is "to hold those in power accountable and to inform the public about significant distortions of the truth." In their tenth anniversary Annual Report Piller described their first meetings in their "Boardroom—the cheap seats at the Baltimore Orioles game. In May 1990, Lewis used the money he had raised and his house as collateral to open an 1,800-square-foot (170 m ) office in Washington, D.C. In its first year,

3243-597: Is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding campaign finance laws and free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . The court held 5–4 that the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations including for-profits, nonprofit organizations , labor unions , and other kinds of associations. The majority held that

3384-465: Is a tremendous victory, not only for Citizens United but for every American who desires to participate in the political process." Republican politicians and advisors universally praised the Supreme Court's decision. According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , "For too long, some in this country have been deprived of full participation in the political process. With today's monumental decision,

3525-745: Is already illegal, since it would constitute a contribution in the name of another. A "pop-up" super PAC is one that is formed within 20 days before an election, so that its first finance disclosures will be filed after the election. In 2018 the Center for Public Integrity recorded 44 pop-up super PACs formed on October 18 or later, a year when the Federal Election Commission pre-general election reports covered activity through October 17. In 2020 there were more than 50. Pop-up super PACs often have local-sounding or issue-oriented names. However they can be funded by much larger party-affiliated PACs. In 2021

3666-474: Is intended to prevent them from operating campaigns that complement or parallel those of the candidates they support or engaging in negotiations that could result in quid pro quo bargaining between donors to the PAC and the candidate or officeholder. However, it is legal for candidates and super PAC managers to discuss campaign strategy and tactics through the media. In 2024, a Federal Election Commission ruling eased

3807-486: Is the wrong way to counterbalance that influence." President Barack Obama stated that the decision "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington—while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates". Obama later stated that "this ruling strikes at our democracy itself" and "I can't think of anything more devastating to

3948-487: The New York Times , this has created a situation of financial peril that "threatens to extinguish a newsroom of about 30 journalists that has watchdogged powerful institutions for decades." In March 2024, CPI laid off 11 newsroom employees. CPI's donors are listed on its website for the most recent two years. CPI ceased accepting contributions from corporations and labor unions in 1996. In its first year, CPI's budget

4089-632: The PBS NewsHour , "unmasked the deep, sometimes hidden, connections entangling the chemical industry , scientists and regulators, revealing the industry's sway and the public's peril." Investigative journalists examined the work of the then California Department of Public Health 's John Morgan who had been working since 1995, to debunk allegations that chromium had contributed to the cancer cluster attributed to Hinkley groundwater contamination . The CPI found glaring weaknesses in Morgan's analysis that challenge

4230-473: The San Antonio Express-News praised the ruling for overturning the BCRA exception for media corporations from the ban on corporate electioneering, writing that it "makes no sense" that the paper could make endorsements up until the day of the election but advocacy groups could not. "While the influence of money on the political process is troubling and sometimes corrupting, abridging political speech

4371-474: The 2004 presidential campaign , the organization filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) charging that advertisements for Michael Moore 's film Fahrenheit 9/11 , a docudrama critical of the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , constituted political advertising and thus could not be aired within the 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before

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4512-507: The 2008 Democratic primaries ; however, Citizens United would be able to broadcast the advertisements for the film as they fell in the "safe harbor of the FEC's prohibition regulations". In accordance with the special rules in BCRA, Citizens United appealed the District Court decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court . Arguments before the Supreme Court began on March 24, 2009. During

4653-800: The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC, listing 23 pop-up Super PACs which had failed to disclose their affiliation to other PACs mostly affiliated with leaderships of the two major parties. Super PACs may support particular candidacies. In the 2012 presidential election, super PACs played a major role, spending more than the candidates' election campaigns in the Republican primaries. As of early April 2012, Restore Our Future —a super PAC usually described as having been created to help Mitt Romney 's presidential campaign—had spent $ 40 million. Winning Our Future (a pro– Newt Gingrich group) spent $ 16 million. Some Super PACs are run or advised by

4794-751: The Cato Institute disagreed with the idea "that corporations had so much money that their spending would create vast inequalities in speech that would undermine democracy". Law professor Bradley A. Smith – former chairman of the FEC and founder of the Institute for Free Speech – wrote that the opponents of political free speech are "incumbent politicians" who "are keen to maintain a chokehold on such speech". Empowering "small and midsize corporations—and every incorporated mom-and-pop falafel joint, local firefighters' union, and environmental group—to make its voice heard" frightens them. Campaign finance expert Jan Baran,

4935-484: The FEC and by independent organizations such as OpenSecrets . Yet despite disclosure rules, political action committees have found ways to get around them. The 2020 election attracted record amounts of donations from dark money groups to political committees like super PACs. These groups are required to reveal their backers, but they can hide the true source of funding by reporting a non-disclosing nonprofit or shell company as

5076-506: The Federal Election Campaign Act , because Citizens United was not a bona fide commercial film maker. In the wake of these decisions, Citizens United sought to establish itself as a bona fide commercial filmmaker before the 2008 elections, producing several documentary films. During the 2008 political primary season , it sought to run three television advertisements to promote its political documentary Hillary: The Movie ,

5217-589: The Firepower scandal . The ICIJ partnered with the Guardian , BBC , Le Monde , The Washington Post , SonntagsZeitung , Süddeutsche Zeitung and NDR to produce an investigative series on offshore banking . ICIJ and partnering agencies used the ownership information to report on government corruption across the globe, tax avoidance schemes used by wealthy people, the use of secret offshore accounts in Ponzi schemes ,

5358-472: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ ). This international network, based in Washington, D.C. , includes over 200 investigative reporters in over 90 countries and territories. Gerard Ryle is the director of ICIJ. Its website publishes The Global Muckraker . ICIJ is focused on issues such as "cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power". In 2013,

5499-465: The Knight Foundation , CPI launched iWatchnews.org as its main investigative reporting website. In August 2012, CPI stopped using iWatchnews.org and returned to its original domain. Buzenberg stepped down from CPI at the end of 2014, at which time Peter Bale was named CEO. In November 2016, Bale resigned from the center to "pursue other international media opportunities" and John Dunbar assumed

5640-755: The Omidyar Network , the Open Society Foundations , and the Pew Charitable Trusts . The Barbra Streisand Foundation reports that it has funded CPI. In July 2014, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation donated $ 2.8 million to CPI to launch a new project focused on state campaign finance. According to the International Business Times , "as CPI was negotiating the Arnold grant, Arnold's name

5781-790: The Society of Professional Journalists . The report was an examination of the connection between overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton presidency and financial contributions to the Democratic Party as well as the Clinton re-election campaign. In 2003, CPI published Windfalls of War , a report arguing that campaign contributions to George W. Bush affected the allocation of reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Slate ran

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5922-547: The "furthest from the core of political expression" protected by the Constitution, he argued, citing Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont . According to Stevens, corporate spending on political advertising should be regulated as a business transaction, and evaluated on whether it conforms to the wishes of shareholders. The Citizens United ruling represented a turning point on campaign finance, allowing unlimited election spending by corporations and labor unions, and setting

6063-407: The "most influential actors in most political campaigns" are media corporations which "overtly editorialize for and against candidates, and also influence elections by choosing what to cover and how to cover it". Holding that corporations like Exxon would fear alienating voters by supporting candidates, the decision really meant that voters would hear "more messages from more sources". According to

6204-550: The "most serious threat to American democracy in a generation". The Christian Science Monitor wrote that the court had declared "outright that corporate expenditures cannot corrupt elected officials, that influence over lawmakers is not corruption, and that appearance of influence will not undermine public faith in our democracy". An ABC– Washington Post poll conducted shortly after the Citizens United ruling showed that 80% of those surveyed opposed (and 65% strongly opposed)

6345-435: The "worst Supreme Court decision since 1960", noting that the decision is "undermining our system of democracy itself." The New York Times stated in an editorial, "The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official: if you vote wrong, my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election." Jonathan Alter called it

6486-563: The 2015 Center for American Homeless Veterans' tax returns, "it provided just $ 200 in grants to other organizations out of $ 2.5 million in overall expenditures, the vast majority of which paid telemarketers." This report confirms findings from the investigation by the Saint Louis, Missouri Better Business Bureau (BBB) and CharityWatch . The BBB had advised "consumers to exercise caution when deciding whether to contribute money" to Hampton's non-profit. BBB also found that "[c]ontracts between

6627-488: The 2016 election cycle, Super PACs spent more than $ 1 billion, nearly twice that of every other category of contributors combined. In 2018, over 95% of super PAC money came from the top 1% of donors. Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity ( CPI ) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping

6768-445: The 2016 presidential campaign, super PACs were described (by journalist Matea Gold) as "finding creative ways to work in concert" with the candidates they supported and work around the "narrowly drawn" legal rule that separated political campaigns from outside groups/super PACs. "Nearly every top presidential hopeful" had "a personalized super PAC" that raised "unlimited sums" and was "run by close associates or former aides". Not only did

6909-637: The 30-second advertisement for the movie, and to enjoin the Federal Election Commission from enforcing its regulations. Citizens United also argued that the commission's disclosure and disclaimer requirements were unconstitutional as applied to the movie pursuant to the Supreme Court decision in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. and sought to enjoin those requirements as well. In accordance with Section 403 of

7050-539: The BCRA, a three-judge panel was convened to hear the case. On January 15, 2008, the court denied the Citizens United motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that the suit had little chance of success because the movie had no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote against Hillary Clinton. Therefore the film was an item of express advocacy, not entitled to exemption from the ban on corporate funding of electioneering communications. The court held that

7191-549: The CPI's budget was $ 200,000. In 1996, CPI launched its first website, although CPI did not begin to publish reports online until 1999. In August 2000 the CPI published a story entitled "Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob", in which the authors argued that while Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton —from 1995 to 2000—the company received "$ 3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans". In 2001, Global Integrity , an international project,

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7332-448: The CPI, and eight Huffington Post journalists moved to CPI. In 2011, CPI eliminated 10 staff positions in order to compensate for a $ 2 million budget shortfall. Buzenberg and other senior staffers also took salary cuts. CPI board chairman Bruce Finzen said the budget would be "reduced between $ 2 million and $ 3 million, more like $ 2.5 million. The budget for next year will be in the 6 to 7 million range." In April 2011, with support from

7473-521: The Center for American Homeless Veterans and "its two main fundraisers" – Reno, Nevada -based Outreach Calling and Phoenix, Arizona -based Midwest Publishing – revealed that "just 10 percent of all donations" go to the Center for American Homeless Veterans. The BBB investigation also revealed that from September 2014 to September 2016, Outreach Calling and Midwest Publishing "collected nearly $ 5 million, with about $ 508,000 going to

7614-414: The Center's carefully assembled, very talented, senior staff had quit by the fall of 2005". In September 2005, CPI announced that it had discovered a pattern of plagiarism in the past work of a staff writer for CPI's 2002 book Capitol Offenders . CPI responded by hiring a copy editor to review all work, issuing a revised version of Capitol Offenders , sending letters of apology to all reporters whose work

7755-591: The Constitution. The majority criticized Austin's reasoning that the "distorting effect" of large corporate expenditures constituted a risk of corruption or the appearance of corruption . Rather, the majority argued that the government had no place in determining whether large expenditures distorted an audience's perceptions, and that the type of "corruption" that might justify government controls on spending for speech had to relate to some form of " quid pro quo " transaction in which politicians favored corporations from whom they received donations. The court also overruled

7896-461: The Decline of America's Moral Integrity Lewis recounted how he recruited two trusted journalists, Alejandro Benes and Charles Piller —whom he had met through his television work— to serve on the board of directors of the nascent CPI. All three had grown dissatisfied with what was being done in the name of investigative journalism by established news organizations. They chose the name public integrity as

8037-474: The FEC regulations allow campaigns to "publicly signal their needs to independent groups", political operatives on both sides "can talk to one another directly, as long as they do not discuss candidate strategy." Candidates are even allowed by the FEC "to appear at super PAC fundraisers, as long as they do not solicit more than $ 5,000". Representative David E. Price (D–NC) complained "The rules of affiliation are just about as porous as they can be, and it amounts to

8178-535: The February 8, 2016 article "Meet the 'rented white coats' who defend toxic chemicals", the February 10, 2016 article "Making a cancer cluster disappear", the February 16, 2016 article "Ford spent $ 40 million to reshape asbestos science", the February 18, 2016 article "Brokers of junk science ?", and the March 31, 2016 article "Senators seek better conflict disclosures for scientific articles." In this investigative series which

8319-488: The First Amendment does not distinguish between media and other corporations, the BCRA restrictions improperly allowed Congress to suppress political speech in newspapers, books, television, and blogs. Consequently, "There is no such thing as too much speech." The court overturned the 1990 precedent Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce , which had held that a state law that prohibited corporations from using money to support or oppose candidates in elections did not violate

8460-430: The First Amendment. Because spending money is essential to disseminating speech, as established in the 1976 precedent Buckley v. Valeo , limiting a corporation's ability to spend money is unconstitutional by limiting the ability of its members to associate effectively and to speak on political issues. The court's opinion relied heavily on Buckley and First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti , in which it struck down

8601-596: The ICIJ made headlines worldwide with the announcement that it and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung had received a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents from a secret source, created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca . The Panama Papers provided detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. The documents named

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8742-499: The Panama Papers in 2015 and distributed them to about 400 journalists at 107 media organizations in more than 80 countries. The first news reports based on the set, along with 149 of the documents themselves, were published on April 3, 2016. Among other planned disclosures, the full list of companies is to be released in early May 2016. In November 2017, ICIJ launched a coordinated worldwide release of investigative reports based on

8883-612: The Paradise Papers, documents leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on offshore tax havens – tax "paradises" – from offshore law firm Appleby . A 2012 The New York Times editorial described the CPI as a "nonpartisan watchdog group". In relation to a story in February 1996, CPI was characterized as a "liberal group" by the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times . Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting ,

9024-529: The Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC (2003) had found the disclosure requirements of the BCRA constitutional, while the Wisconsin Right to Life precedent was not relevant because it only addressed speech that was not considered express advocacy. On July 18, 2008, the District Court ruled that Section 203 of the BCRA prohibited Citizens United from paying to have the film shown on television within 30 days of

9165-640: The Supreme Court must sometimes overrule prior decisions. Had prior courts never gone against precedent, for example, "segregation would be legal, minimum wage laws would be unconstitutional, and the Government could wiretap ordinary criminal suspects without first obtaining warrants". Roberts's concurrence recited a plethora of case law in which the court had ruled against precedent. Ultimately, Roberts argued that " stare decisis... counsels deference to past mistakes, but provides no justification for making new ones". Roberts also briefly explained his reasoning for joining

9306-426: The Supreme Court ruling, resulted in somewhat different conclusions. The poll found that 57% of those surveyed "agreed that money given to political candidates is a form of free speech" and 55% percent agreed that the "same rules should apply to individuals, corporations and unions". In the same poll, however, 52% of respondents supported limits on campaign contributions over financial support of campaigns and 76% thought

9447-455: The Supreme Court ruling. Polling conducted by Ipsos in 2017 found that 48% of Americans oppose the decision and 30% support it, with the remainder having no opinion. The poll also found that 57% percent of Americans favored "limits on the amount of money super PACs can raise and spend". In February 2010, shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen outlined legislation aimed at undoing

9588-461: The Supreme Court took an important step in the direction of restoring the First Amendment rights of these groups by ruling that the Constitution protects their right to express themselves about political candidates and issues up until Election Day. By previously denying this right, the government was picking winners and losers. Our democracy depends upon free speech, not just for some but for all." Republican campaign consultant Ed Rollins opined that

9729-421: The Supreme Court's decision. Most of these are non-binding resolutions, but three states—Vermont, California, and Illinois—called for an Article V Convention to draft and propose a federal constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United . (Thirty-four states are needed to call an Article V convention.) In Minnesota , the state senate passed a similar resolution but it did not survive further discussions by

9870-578: The UK also participated. that won the Overseas Press Club Award and Investigative Reporters and Editors 's Tom Renner Award for crime reporting. In 2010, CPI partnered with National Public Radio to publish "Sexual Assault on Campus", a report which showcases the failures of colleges and government agencies to prevent sexual assaults and resolve sexual assault cases. The year long investigation by CPI, Toxic Clout , produced in partnership with

10011-553: The United States spending $ 675 million over seven years on lobbying. They continued with this series in 2005 revealing how pharmaceutical companies had contacts even within the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Trade Representatives. CPI's report, Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown? , looking at the roots of the global financial crisis, was featured in numerous media outlets, leading Columbia Journalism Review to ask, "Why hasn't

10152-490: The [Center for American Homeless Veterans] and "almost all the money retained" by the center, "went to pay salaries, legal fees and office-related expenses." According to New York state regulators, "a wealthy 49-year-old New Jersey businessman", Mark Gelvan (b.1978), is the "driving force behind Outreach Calling." Outreach Calling collects money for "homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others. According to

10293-437: The active role of major banks in facilitating secrecy for their clients, and the strategies and actors that make these activities possible. In early 2014 the ICIJ revealed as part of their "Offshore Leaks" that relatives of China's political and financial elite were among those using offshore tax havens to store wealth. The 2016 series entitled Science for Sale included, the February 8, 2016 article "About Science for Sale",

10434-450: The amounts of union and corporate money that's going to go into political campaigns". McCain was "disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court and the lifting of the limits on corporate and union contributions" but not surprised by the decision, saying that "It was clear that Justice Roberts, Alito and Scalia, by their very skeptical and even sarcastic comments, were very much opposed to BCRA." Consumer activist Ralph Nader condemned

10575-543: The camera shifted to a shot of the Supreme Court Justices in the front row directly in front of the President while he was making this statement, and Justice Samuel Alito mouthed the words "Not true". Democratic Senator Russ Feingold , a lead sponsor of the BCRA, stated "This decision was a terrible mistake. Presented with a relatively narrow legal issue, the Supreme Court chose to roll back laws that have limited

10716-401: The case. The re-argument was one of the first attended by Justice Sonia Sotomayor , who had replaced Souter in the interim. It was also the first case argued by then-Solicitor General and future Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan . Former Solicitor General Ted Olson and First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams argued for Citizens United, and another former Solicitor General Seth Waxman defended

10857-471: The center in great shape financially, but when you have a visionary who leaves, how do you continue? 'With difficulty' is the answer." Baskin publicly disputed Buzenberg's claims in a letter to the American Journalism Review where she wrote, "contrary to the statement from current Executive Director Bill Buzenberg, the center was not left 'in great shape financially' by my predecessor. Much of

10998-462: The condition of the Center. It's no secret it had a less than enviable few years. But that's one of the reasons I thought it was important to leave. I had founded it and run it for 15 years, and at some point the founder does have to leave the building...I don't regret it, I think it was important that I left, but I do feel badly about the hardship it brought to people I think the world of." In 2010, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund merged into

11139-411: The conservative Club for Growth , and the liberal Commonsense Ten (later renamed Senate Majority PAC). Their advisory opinions gave a sample wording letter which all super PACs must submit to qualify for the deregulated status, and such letters continue to be used by super PACs up to the present date. FEC Chairman Steven T. Walther dissented on both opinions and issued a statement giving his thoughts. In

11280-545: The consortium reported having 160 member journalists from 60 countries. The ICIJ brings together teams of international journalists for different investigations (over 80 for Offshore leaks ). It organized the bi-annual Daniel Pearl Awards for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting . ICIJ staff members include Michael Hudson , while the Advisory Committee in 2013 included Bill Kovach , Phillip Knightley , Gwen Lister , and Goenawan Mohamad . In April 2016,

11421-531: The corporate donations gained by their opponents. While the long-term legacy of this case remains to be seen, an early study by one political scientist has concluded that Citizens United worked in favor of the electoral success of Republican candidates. The Citizens United ruling was highly controversial and remains a subject of widespread public discussion. Citizens United , upon its victory, said "Today's U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Citizens United to air its documentary films and advertisements

11562-422: The corporate expenditure ban have been nonprofit advocacy organizations across the political spectrum." Hans A. von Spakovsky – of The Heritage Foundation and former member of the Federal Election Commission – said "The Supreme Court has restored a part of the First Amendment that had been unfortunately stolen by Congress and a previously wrongly-decided ruling of the court." John Samples and Ilya Shapiro of

11703-481: The corporation's interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are "in the pocket" of so-called moneyed interests ... This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a separate concurring opinion "to address the important principles of judicial restraint and stare decisis implicated in this case". Roberts explained why

11844-404: The court addressed a question not raised by the litigants when it found BCRA Section 203 to be facially unconstitutional, and that the majority "changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law". Stevens argued that the court had long recognized that to deny Congress the power to safeguard against "the improper use of money to influence the result [of an election] is to deny to

11985-508: The court's ruling represented "a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government". The decision remains highly controversial, generating much public discussion and receiving strong support or opposition from various politicians, commentators, and advocacy groups. Senator Mitch McConnell commended the decision, arguing that it represented "an important step in

12126-544: The decision adds transparency to the election process and will make it more competitive. Campaign finance attorney Cleta Mitchell, who had filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of two advocacy organizations supporting Citizens United, wrote that "The Supreme Court has correctly eliminated a constitutionally flawed system that allowed media corporations... to freely disseminate their opinions about candidates using corporate treasury funds, while denying that constitutional privilege to Susie's Flower Shop Inc. ... The real victims of

12267-616: The decision by means of constitutional amendment. Representative Leonard Boswell introduced legislation to amend the constitution. President Barack Obama and Senator John Kerry also called for an amendment to overrule the decision. In 2011 Senator Bernie Sanders proposed the Saving American Democracy Amendment, which would reverse the court's ruling. In 2015 Sanders said that "the foundations of American Democracy are being undermined" and called for sweeping campaign finance reform. Sanders has repeated such calls in

12408-805: The decision. In June the DISCLOSE Act passed in the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. It would have required additional disclosure by corporations of their campaign expenditures. The law, if passed, would also have prohibited political spending by American companies with twenty percent or more foreign ownership, and by most government contractors. Also in 2010, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) proposed that laws on corporate governance be amended to assure that shareholders vote on political expenditures. Representative Donna Edwards and Maryland Democratic State Senator Jamie Raskin , have circulated petitions to reverse

12549-538: The direction of restoring the First Amendment rights". By contrast, then-President Barack Obama stated that the decision "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington". Citizens United had previously used the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act , commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA, which prohibited "electioneering communications" by incorporated entities. During

12690-456: The donor. By using this tactic, dark money groups can get around a 2020 court ruling that attempts to require nonprofits running political ads to reveal their donors. It is also possible to spend money without voters knowing the identities of donors before voting takes place. In federal elections, for example, political action committees have the option to choose to file reports on a "monthly" or "quarterly" basis. This allows funds raised by PACs in

12831-427: The door open for carefully-tailored future regulation. Stevens further argued that the majority opinion contradicted the reasoning of other campaign finance precedents including Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and McConnell v. FEC . On the matter of undue corporate influence on elections and spending on behalf of chosen candidates, Stevens cited First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti and argued that

12972-527: The film from being broadcast, and Citizens United challenged this determination in court. In December 2007, Citizens United filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the constitutionality of several statutory provisions governing "electioneering communications". It asked the court to declare that the prohibition on corporate and union funding were facially unconstitutional , and also as applied to Hillary: The Movie and to

13113-475: The film. The justices voted the same as they had in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. , a similar 2007 case. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the initial opinion of the court, holding that BCRA allowed the showing of the film. A draft concurring opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that the court should have gone much further. The other justices in the majority agreed with Kennedy's reasoning, and convinced Roberts to reassign

13254-497: The final days of the election to be spent and votes cast before the report is due and the donors identities' are known. In one high-profile case, a donor to a super PAC kept his name hidden by using an LLC formed for the purpose of hiding the donor's name. One super PAC, that originally listed a $ 250,000 donation from an LLC that no one could find, led to a subsequent filing where the previously "secret donors" were revealed. However, campaign finance experts have argued that this tactic

13395-479: The foundation of our democracy". Justice Antonin Scalia also wrote a concurring opinion that addressed the dissent by Justice John Paul Stevens , specifically with regard to the original understanding of the First Amendment. Scalia wrote that Stevens's dissent was "in splendid isolation from the text of the First Amendment... It never shows why 'the freedom of speech' that was the right of Englishmen did not include

13536-546: The freedom to speak in association with other individuals, including association in the corporate form." He further considered the dissent's exploration of the Framers ' views about the "role of corporations in society" to be misleading, and even if valid, irrelevant to the text of the Constitution. Scalia argued that the First Amendment was written in "terms of speech, not speakers" and that "Its text offers no foothold for excluding any category of speaker." This interpretation supported

13677-473: The funders of such speech, were valid as applied to the movie advertisements and to the movie itself. The majority ruled for the disclosure of the sources of campaign contributions, saying that: ...prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation's political speech advances

13818-687: The funds collected. According to the December 12, 2017 article, Brian Arthur Hampton co-founded two Falls Church, Virginia -based non-profit organizations: the Circle of Friends for American Veterans (COFAV)—also known as "American Homeless Veterans"—in 1993 and then the Center for American Homeless Veterans—also known as the "Association for Homeless and Disabled Veterans". During the 2000s, Hampton said he had "hosted more than 100 members of Congress across 196 veterans shelter-themed forums in 46 cities" in rallies for these non-profits. Kleiner revealed that according to

13959-468: The government could ban the digital distribution of political books over the Amazon Kindle or prevent a union from hiring an author to write a political book. Justice Kennedy later explained how "all of us are concerned with money in politics". However, he was shocked that "the government of the United States ... argued before the Supreme Court ... that if there was an upcoming political campaign ... and

14100-496: The government should be able to place limits on corporate or union donations. Separate polls commissioned by various conservative organizations, including Citizens United and the Institute for Free Speech , using different wording, found support for the decision. In particular, a Center for Competitive Politics poll found that 51% of respondents believed that Citizens United should have a right to air ads promoting Hillary: The Movie . The poll also found that only 22% had heard of

14241-565: The high court had "never suggested that such quid pro quo debts must take the form of outright vote buying or bribes". Again citing McConnell v. FEC , he argued that independent expenditures were sometimes a factor in gaining political access and concluded that large independent expenditures generate more influence than direct campaign contributions. Furthermore, Stevens argued that corporations could threaten politicians with negative advertising to gain unprecedented leverage, citing Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. Hence, Stevens argued that

14382-544: The leaders of five countries — Argentina, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates — as well as government officials, close relatives and close associates of various heads of government of more than 40 other countries, including Brazil, China, France, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Malta, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Syria and the United Kingdom. The ICIJ and Süddeutsche Zeitung received

14523-472: The litigation had presented. According to Toobin, Roberts agreed to withdraw the opinion and schedule the case for re-argument. When he did, the questions presented to the parties were, however, more expansive, touching on the issues Kennedy's opinion had identified. The court issued an order directing the parties to re-argue the case on September 9, 2009 with a discussion of whether it might be necessary to overrule Austin and/or McConnell v. FEC to decide

14664-458: The majority did not place enough emphasis on the need to prevent the appearance of corruption in elections. Earlier cases, including Buckley, recognized the importance of public confidence in democracy. Stevens cited recent data indicating that 80% of the public viewed corporate independent expenditures as a method to gain unfair legislative influence. With corporations able to spend far more to influence elections than any ordinary citizen, Stevens

14805-466: The majority opinion in McConnell v. FEC twelve years later, criticized the decision only obliquely, but warned, "In invalidating some of the existing checks on campaign spending, the majority in Citizens United has signaled that the problem of campaign contributions in judicial elections might get considerably worse and quite soon." Constitutional law scholar Laurence H. Tribe wrote that "talking about

14946-524: The majority's contention that the Constitution does not allow the courts to separate corporations into media and non-media categories. Justice Clarence Thomas , another member of the majority, also wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he disagreed with upholding the disclosure provisions of BCRA Sections 201 and 311. To protect the anonymity of contributors to organizations exercising free speech, Thomas would have struck down those reporting requirements, rather than allowing them to be challenged only on

15087-596: The majority, Stevens read part of his 90-page dissent from the bench. Stevens concurred in the court's decision to sustain BCRA's disclosure provisions but dissented from the principal holding. He argued that the majority ruling "threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution." He added: "A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold." Stevens also argued that

15228-399: The majority. He explained: "The [government's] ... theory, if accepted, would empower the Government to prohibit newspapers from running editorials or opinion pieces supporting or opposing candidates for office, so long as the newspapers were owned by corporations—as the major ones are. First Amendment rights could be confined to individuals, subverting the vibrant public discourse that is at

15369-455: The money raised during the year prior to my tenure was used to offset budget overruns on several previous projects. I replaced our director of development and made fundraising my number one priority, much as Buzenberg has done. As a rookie fundraiser, I take pride in the fact that I was able to raise millions of dollars." In 2008, Lewis reflected on the transition period following his resignation and said, "I regret what happened to my staff and

15510-519: The nation in a vital particular the power of self protection". After recognizing that in Buckley v. Valeo the court had struck down portions of a broad prohibition of independent expenditures from any sources, Stevens argued that nevertheless Buckley recognized the legitimacy of "prophylactic" measures for limiting campaign spending and found the prevention of corruption to be a reasonable goal for legislation. Consequently, Stevens argued that Buckley left

15651-474: The organization until May 24, 2006. Baskin was followed by Wendell Rawls Jr., who was named the center's interim executive director. Rawls had previously worked as the center's managing director — being named to that post by Baskin on December 19, 2005. He joined CPI in August 2005. In 2007, Rawls was succeeded by William Buzenberg , a vice president at American Public Media / Minnesota Public Radio . Buzenberg

15792-473: The original oral argument , Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart (representing the FEC) argued that under Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce in 1990, the government would have the power to ban books if those books contained even one sentence expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate and were published or distributed by a corporation or labor union. Stewart further argued that under Austin

15933-485: The prohibition of all independent expenditures by corporations and unions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act violated the First Amendment. The ruling barred restrictions on corporations, unions, and nonprofit organizations from independent expenditures, allowing groups to independently support political candidates with financial resources. In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that

16074-514: The public interest". Just days after the ruling, Obama condemned the decision during his 2010 State of the Union Address , stating that, "Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests—including foreign corporations—to spend without limit in our elections. Well, I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities." On television,

16215-419: The public trust by powerful interests". CPI was founded on March 30, 1989, by Charles Lewis , a former producer for ABC News and CBS News 60 Minutes . By the late 1980s Lewis observed that fewer resources—time, money and space—were being invested in investigative reporting in the United States by established news outlets and major publications. In his book entitled 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and

16356-469: The public with knowledge to drive change." It won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting , and in 2023, the Edward R. Murrow Award for General Excellence . The CPI has been described as an independent watchdog group. The Center releases its reports via its website. The mission of the center is "to protect democracy and inspire change using investigative reporting that exposes betrayals of

16497-436: The purpose of making independent expenditures. The result of the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org decisions was the rise of a new type of political action committee in 2010, popularly dubbed the "super PAC". In an open meeting on July 22, 2010, the FEC approved two Advisory Opinions to modify FEC policy in accordance with the legal decisions. These Advisory Opinions were issued in response to requests from two existing PACs,

16638-481: The restrictions on super PACs. Super PACs were allowed to coordinate with campaigns for the purposes of canvassing, which was deemed not "public communications." By January 2010, at least 38 states and the federal government required disclosure for all or some independent expenditures or electioneering communications. These disclosures were intended to deter potentially or seemingly corrupting donations . Contributions to, and expenditures by, Super PACs are tracked by

16779-438: The role of chief executive officer. In 2019, Susan Smith Richardson was named chief executive officer, becoming the first African-American CEO in the center's history. In February 2024, CEO Paul Cheung resigned. The board also acted to eliminate the position of editor-in-chief, a post that had been held by Matt DeRienzo. CPI had a revenue goal of $ 6 million for 2023, and fell about $ 2.5 million short of that. According to

16920-464: The role of corporate money in federal elections since Teddy Roosevelt was president." Representative Alan Grayson stated that it was "the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case , and that the court had opened the door to political bribery and corruption in elections to come. Senator John McCain , a co-crafter of the BCRA, said "there's going to be, over time, a backlash... when you see

17061-662: The ruling, saying that "With this decision, corporations can now directly pour vast amounts of corporate money, through independent expenditures, into the electoral swamp already flooded with corporate campaign PAC contribution dollars." When discussing the ruling and related developments, former President Jimmy Carter called the United States "an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery" in an interview with Thom Hartmann . Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor , whose opinions had changed from dissenting in Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce to co-authoring (with Stevens)

17202-461: The ruling, with the pollsters interpreting the results as: "corporations and unions can spend as much money as they want to help political candidates win elections". Additionally, 72% supported "an effort by Congress to reinstate limits on corporate and union spending on election campaigns". The poll showed large majority support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents. A Gallup Poll conducted in 2009, after oral arguments but publicized after

17343-402: The stage for Speechnow.org v. FEC (2010), which authorized the creation of Super PACs , and McCutcheon v. FEC (2014), which struck down other campaign finance restrictions. The ruling also influenced the outcome of Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett (2011) in which the Supreme Court outlawed public funding by states for candidates who were unable to compete with

17484-587: The state assembly. On the local level, Washington, D.C., and 400 other municipalities passed resolutions requesting a federal constitutional amendment. Critics predicted that the Citizens United ruling would "bring about a new era of corporate influence in politics", allowing companies to "buy elections" to promote their financial interests. Instead, large expenditures, usually through "Super PACS", have come from "a small group of billionaires", based largely on ideology. The New York Times asked seven academics to opine on how corporate money would reshape politics as

17625-605: The statement, Walther stated "There are provisions of the Act and Commission regulations not addressed by the court in SpeechNow that continue to prohibit Commonsense Ten from soliciting or accepting contributions from political committees in excess of $ 5,000 annually or any contributions from corporations or labor organizations" (emphasis in original). The term "super PAC" was coined by reporter Eliza Newlin Carney. According to Politico , Carney,

17766-488: The statute on behalf of various supporters. Legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky called it "one of the most important First Amendment cases in years". On January 21, 2010, the court issued a 5–4 decision in favor of Citizens United that struck down the BCRA restrictions on independent political expenditures by corporations as violations of the First Amendment, in a reversal of the District Court opinion. The majority opinion

17907-479: The total spending under that category was just $ 750 million. Outside spending surpassed candidate spending in 126 races since the ruling compared to only 15 in the five election cycles prior. Groups that did not disclose their donors spent $ 963 million in the decade following the ruling, compared to $ 129 million in the decade prior. Non-partisan outside spending as a percentage of total election spending increased from 6% in 2008 to nearly 20% in 2018. During

18048-457: The validity of his findings. "In his first study, he dismisses what others see as a genuine cancer cluster in Hinkley. In his latest analysis, he excludes people who were exposed to the worst contamination ." PBS Newshour broadcast the series which included "EPA Contaminated by Conflict of Interest", "Ouster of Scientist from EPA Panel Shows Industry Clout", starting in early 2013. CPI published

18189-623: The writing and allow Kennedy's concurrence to become the majority opinion. On the minority side, Justice John Paul Stevens assigned the dissenting opinion to David Souter , with Souter completing the task shortly before retiring from the court. The final draft of the dissent went beyond critiquing the majority. Toobin described it as airing "some of the Court's dirty laundry", as Souter accused Roberts of having manipulated court procedures to reach his desired result—an expansive decision that changed decades of election law and ruled on issues neither party to

18330-431: The years since. The New York Times reported that 24 states with laws prohibiting or limiting independent expenditures by unions and corporations would have to change their campaign finance laws because of the ruling. After Citizens United , numerous state legislatures raised their limits on contributions to candidates and parties. Members of 16 state legislatures have called for a constitutional amendment to reverse

18471-793: Was absent from a CPI report on pension politics". Arnold has spent at least $ 10 million on a campaign to roll back pension benefits for public workers. As of March 2024, CPI's board of directors includes co-chairs James A. Kiernan and Wesley Lowery, and members Richard Lobo, George Alvarez-Correa, Bruce Finzen, Jamaal Glenn, Olivier Kamanda, Jennifer 8. Lee , Gilbert Omenn, Sue Suh, Daniel Suleiman and Andres Torres. Former board members include Elspeth Revere, Bill Kovach, Ninan Chacko, Arianna Huffington , Craig Newmark , Dan Emmett, Matthew Granade, Steve Kroft , Hendrik-Jan Laseur, Susan Loewenberg, Bevis Longsteth, Olivia Ma, Scott Siegler, Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, Christiane Amanpour , Sheila Coronel , and Molly Bingham , and Matt Thompson. In 1997, CPI launched

18612-518: Was cited by four presidential candidates in 1992 and was partly responsible for an executive order in January 1993 by President Clinton, placing a lifetime ban on foreign lobbying by White House trade officials." In 1996, CPI released a report called Fat Cat Hotel: How Democratic High-Rollers Are Rewarded with Overnight Stays at the White House . This report, written by Margaret Ebrahim, won an award from

18753-563: Was co-published with Vice, journalist revealed how research backed by industry has opened debates on asbestos and arsenic with some of the paid scientists saying that "there are 'safe' levels of asbestos despite statements to the contrary from the World Health Organization and many other august bodies". In December 2017, CPI journalist Sarah Kleiner published a report on professional fundraisers who use telemarketing to collect donations for US military veterans, then keep 90 percent of

18894-448: Was concerned that the majority opinion would cause the citizenry to "lose faith in our democracy". Legal entities like corporations, Stevens wrote, are not "We the People" for whom our Constitution was established. Therefore, he argued, they should not be given speech protections under the First Amendment, which protects individual self-expression and self-realization. Corporate spending is

19035-545: Was donated by publicly traded corporations . As of February 2012, according to OpenSecrets , 313 groups organized as super PACs had received $ 98,650,993 and spent $ 46,191,479. This means early in the 2012 election cycle, PACs had already greatly exceeded total receipts of 2008. The leading super PAC on its own raised more money than the combined total spent by the top 9 PACS in the 2008 cycle. Super PACs have been criticized for relying heavily on negative ads. The 2012 figures do not include funds raised by state level PACs. In

19176-458: Was first interviewed for the position in 2004 during the hiring process that ultimately led to the selection of his predecessor, Roberta Baskin. According to a report by Lewis, "the number of full-time staff was reduced by one-third" in early 2007. By December 2007, the number of full-time staff had dropped to 25, down from a high of 40. At the time, Buzenberg said "It's a great, great place, but I will not mislead you... [Lewis] quite frankly left

19317-831: Was honored with the Renner Award for Crime Reporting from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Online International Reporting. The Tobacco Underground Project was funded by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. It is a cooperative project between the Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) with journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Journalists in Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Paraguay and

19458-439: Was launched to systematically track and report on openness, accountability and the rule of law in various countries. It has since been incorporated independently. In 2004, CPI's The Buying of the President book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for three months. Lewis served as CPI's director until January 2005. As of his departure, CPI had published 14 books and more than 250 investigative reports. In 2005, CPI had

19599-500: Was plagiarized, authoring a new corrections policy, and returning an award the book received from Investigative Reporters and Editors . He went on to work for a political consulting firm that specializes in opposition research . In March 2007, he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the center's official version "is not accurate in telling the full story of why I left the center," but did not elaborate. Baskin led

19740-717: Was reported to be $ 200,000. In 2010, CPI had $ 9.2 million in revenue and $ 7.7 million in expenses. By 2022, annual revenues had declined to $ 5 million. CPI reports receiving foundation support from a number of foundations, including the Sunlight Foundation , the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation , the Ford Foundation , the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation ,

19881-505: Was written by the moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy , who chose to align with the more conservative justices. The court held that BCRA Section 203's prohibition of all independent political expenditures by corporations and unions violated the First Amendment's protection of free speech. As Kennedy wrote, "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." Kennedy also noted that because

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