(WASHINGTON POST) A split Supreme Court Wednesday struck down limits on the total amount of money an individual may spend on political candidates, saying it violates free speech rights.
The 5 to 4 decision sparked a sharp dissent from liberal justices, who said the decision will continue to boost the importance of money in politics and follows a hostility to campaign finance laws that the court’s conservatives showed in Citizens United v. FEC , which allowed corporate spending on elections.
“If Citizens United opened a door,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer said in reading his dissent from the bench, “today’s decision we fear will open a floodgate.”
