First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765; 98 S. Ct. 1407; 55 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1978) Facts—Appellants were national banking associations and business corporations that wanted to publicize their views. They opposed a referendum proposal to…
Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748; 96 S. Ct. 1817; 48 L. Ed. 2d 346 (1976) Facts—The appellees, a consumer group, challenged a Virginia law that states that a pharmacist is guilty…
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205 (2010) Facts—The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) prohibited corporations and unions from making independent expenditures for electioneering communications within 30 days of a primary election. McConnell v. Federal Election Commission…
Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765; 122 S. Ct. 2528; 153 L. Ed. 2d 694 (2002) Facts—The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a rule that prohibited judicial candidates from announcing their view on disputed legal or political issues.…
Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347; 96 S. Ct. 2673; 49 L. Ed. 2d 547 (1976) Facts—Non–civil service employees of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois who were Republicans sought an injunction to prevent the newly elected Democrat from…
Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1; 96 S. Ct. 612; 46 L. Ed. 2d 659 (1976) Facts—Congress passed in 1971, and in 1974 amended, the Federal Election Campaign Act. This act broadly attempted to limit individual political contributions to $1,000…
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46; 108 S. Ct. 876; 99 L. Ed. 2d 41 (1988) Facts—In a district court Jerry Falwell, a nationally known minister, sought to recover damages for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising…
Chandler and Granger v. Florida, 449 U.S. 560; 101 S. Ct. 802; 66 L. Ed. 2d 740 (1981) Facts—A canon of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct permitted still photography and electronic media coverage of judicial proceedings subject to the…
Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 448 U.S. 555; 100 S. Ct. 2814; 65 L. Ed. 2d 973 (1980) Facts—Before the trial of a suspected murderer began, counsel for the defendant moved that the proceedings be closed to the…
Gannett Co. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368; 99 S. Ct. 2898; 61 L. Ed. 2d 608 (1979) Facts—Two men committed murder. At their pretrial hearing their attorneys requested that the public and the press be excluded so as not to…