American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock (2011)
- Docket
- 11-1179
- Decided
- 2011-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the Montana state law violate the First Amendment rights of corporations? Conclusion: Yes. In a per curiam decision, the Court held that the findings in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission also applies to this case, and that political speech is protected regardless of the source. The Court also held that all of the relevant arguments were addressed in the Citizens United decision and reversed the decision of the Supreme Court of Montana. Justice Stephen G. Breyer dissented and noted that he disagreed with the Court's original holding in Citizens United . In this case, he argued, Montana did have a compelling interest to limit electoral and political corruption by limiting corporate political expenditures. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan joined in the dissent.