Jump to full article: Reuters, 2009-09-09
Author: James Vicini
Intro: Corporate spending limits in U.S. political campaigns may be too broad and silence free-speech rights of small businesses like a local hairdresser, Supreme Court conservatives said on Wednesday.
But the court's four liberals, including new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said more harm than good could be done by overturning precedents upholding the restrictions on corporations and labor unions.
The comments came during arguments in a special session to consider ending long-standing limits on corporate and union spending in political campaigns. . . .
During the arguments, Roberts said a tobacco company might want to run an ad opposing a candidate who wanted to make tobacco illegal. The law restricts broadcast ads by companies and unions right before elections.
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