Thompson v. Hebdon
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 25, 2019 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- November 25, 2019
- Term
- October Term 2019
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. Alaska law limits the amount an individual can contribute to a candidate for political office, or to an election-oriented group other than a political party, to $500 per year. Alaska Stat. § 15.13.070(b)(1) (2018). Petitioners Aaron Downing and Jim Crawford are Alaska residents. In 2015, they contributed the maximum amounts permitted under Alaska law to candidates or groups of their choice, but wanted to contribute more. They sued members of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, contending that Alaska's individual-to-candidate and individual-to-group contribution limits violate the First Amendment. The District Court upheld the contribution limits and the Ninth Circuit agreed. 909 F.3d 1027 (2018) ; Thompson v. Dauphinais , 217 F.Supp.3d 1023 (D.Alaska 2016). Applying Circuit precedent, the Ninth Circuit analyzed whether the contribution limits furthered a "sufficiently important state interest" and were "closely drawn" to that end. 909 F.3d at 1034 (quoting Montana Right to Life Assn. v. Eddleman , 343 F.3d 1085, 1092 (2003) ; internal quotation marks omitted). The court recognized that our decisions in Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n and McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n narrow "the type of state interest that justifies a First Amendment intrusion on political contributions" to combating "actual quid pro quo corruption or its appearance." 909 F.3d…
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