''Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce'', 494 U.S. 652 (1990), is a

United States corporate law United States corporate law regulates the governance, finance and power of corporations in US law. Every state and territory has its own basic corporate code, while federal law creates minimum standards for trade in company shares and governanc ...

case of the Supreme Court of the United States holding that the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, which prohibited corporations from using treasury money to make

independent expenditure An independent expenditure, in elections in the United States, is a political campaign communication that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate that is not made in cooperation, consultation or concert wit ...

s to support or oppose candidates in elections, did not violate the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court upheld the restriction on corporate speech, stating, "Corporate wealth can unfairly influence elections"; however, the Michigan law still allowed the corporation to make such expenditures from a segregated fund.

Background

The Michigan Campaign Finance Act banned corporations from spending treasury money on "independent expenditures to support or oppose candidates in elections for state offices." The Act had one loophole-if a corporation had an independent fund solely used for political purposes the law did not apply. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce sought to use its general funds to publish an advertisement in a local newspaper to support a candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives,

Opinion of the Court

Louis J. Caruso, Lansing, Michigan, argued on the side of the appellants (Austin). Richard D. McLellan, Lansing, Michigan, argued for the respondent (Michigan Chamber of Commerce). In an opinion by Justice Marshall, the Court held the Act did not violate the

or the Fourteenth Amendments. The Court recognized a state's compelling interest in combating a "different type of corruption in the political arena: the corrosive and distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with the help of the corporate form and that have little or no correlation to the public's support for the corporation's political ideas." Marshall concluded by noting the importance of the Act: Marshall was joined in the majority opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices William Brennan,

Byron White Byron "Whizzer" Raymond White (June 8, 1917 April 15, 2002) was an American professional football player and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until his retirement in 1993. Born and raised in Colo ...

, Harry Blackmun, and John Paul Stevens.

Justice Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirem ...

wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Scalia and O'Connor.

Subsequent developments

The decision was overruled by '' Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission'', 558 U.S. 50 (2010), ruling that the First Amendment right of free speech applied to corporations.

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce,'' {{ussc, 494, 652, 1990, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/112398/austin-v-michigan-chamber-of-commerce/ , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/494/652.html , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3609582225306729508 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/494/652/case.html , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep494/usrep494652/usrep494652.pdf , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1989/88-1569 United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court United States elections case law 1990 in United States case law Overruled United States Supreme Court decisions Legal history of Michigan

Background

Opinion of the Court

Subsequent developments

See also

References

External links