Supreme Court Sides with Broadcasters in Landmark Case

Overturns McCain-Feingold's Electioneering Communication Prohibitions

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Supreme Court struck down longstanding federal laws that prohibit corporations from directly financing election ads in a decision released on January 21, 2010.   The Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission agreed with the position advocated by Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC in a brief filed on behalf of ten State broadcasters associations.  Corporations are now free to purchase ads that expressly support or oppose candidates, and so-called "electioneering communications" – broadcast ads referring to candidates which air in the periods immediately before elections.   

"The Citizens United decision is a strong affirmation of the First Amendment rights of media corporations," said Womble Carlyle Communications Attorney Gregg Skall.  "We are pleased that the Court recognized and protected the broadcast industry's vital role in the dissemination of political information to the public."  

Womble Carlyle had argued in its brief that the McCain-Feingold law's prohibition on corporate funding of "electioneering communications" was unconstitutional because it unfairly impacted  broadcast  media in ways not applied to other media.  The Supreme Court held that there "simply is no support for the view that the First Amendment ... would permit the suppression of political speech by media corporations."  

Womble Carlyle submitted the brief on behalf of ten State broadcasters associations:  California Broadcasters Association, Illinois Broadcasters Association, Louisiana Broadcasters Association, Maine Association of Broadcasters, Michigan Association of Broadcasters, Minnesota Broadcasters Association, Missouri Broadcasters Association, Nebraska Broadcasters Association, New York State Broadcasters Association, and Tennessee Broadcasters Association.  

The brief was prepared by Womble Carlyle lawyers Lawrence H. Norton, James A. Kahl, and Gregg P. Skall.  

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09slipopinion.html

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A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among AmLaw's 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.

Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with nearly 550 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Wilmington, DE; and Baltimore, MD. Womble Carlyle is located in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally.

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