On Demand

The Impact of Citizens United v. FEC on Campaign Finance Law

Faculty: Steven Simpson
Production Date: September 29 2010

Description

In 2010, in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court prohibited restrictions on corporate funding of political ads under the First Amendment, sparking a flood of controversy and calls for reform.  Citizens United centered around a film made during the 2008 election called "Hillary: The Movie", which argued that Hillary Clinton was unfit for high office and which Citizens United wanted to distribute via cable TV.  In this compelling program, Steven Simpson, an attorney at the Institute for Justice and an expert in free speech law, dissects this landmark ruling and addresses the implications of the Supreme Court’s recognition of a corporation's right to engage in independent political speech. Beginning with a detailed summary of the Citizens United case and the relevant law, Mr. Simpson examines the history and context of campaign finance laws, including the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).  Additionally, Mr. Simpson reviews Buckley v. Valeo, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and McConnell v. FEC, and their impact on expenditure and contribution limits, issue and express advocacy, and corporation and union speech. Mr. Simpson concludes this highly informative presentation by reviewing the debate surrounding the decision and making predictions about the future of other campaign finance laws. This a must-watch course for all attorneys seeking insight into the impact and implications of this crucial decision.

Agenda:
I.    Citizens United Case Summary
II.   Relevant History & Context of Campaign Finance Laws
III.  Supreme Court’s Decision in Citizens United
IV.  Implications for the Future
 

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User Reviews

Mary (Wilmette, IL)

Excellent speaker - made something very complex into something understandable!

Nicholas (Oak Park, IL)

Outstanding. Clear, concise, and compelling, just like the Citizens United case itself. The Institute for Justice is a champion of liberty.

Nunzio (Chicago, IL)

good background to place law into perspecitve

glenn (orangeburg, SC)

good

thomas (chicago, IL)

Very well organized and lucidly presented.

Gilbert (Newport Beach, CA)

Speaker was very knowledgable

Bo (Charleston, SC)

great speaker

Jo-Ann (Honolulu, HI)

It was fascinating to hear Citizens United explained by someone who clearly agrees with the decision!

Larned (Laguna Niguel, CA)

top notch.

Mary W (Rockville Centre, NY)

Tough, complicated subject well presented.

Lex (Portland, OR)

Good presentation.

Frank (Lanett, AL)

Good course.

Adam (Mansfield, TX)

Great speaker on important topic.

Angela (Birmingham, AL)

This is the most comprehensive CLE course I have ever received from any service.

Virginia (Keizer , OR)

Best Lawline CLE course viewed so far.

Nancy (Pleasant Valley, NY)

good speaker, puts things in perspective

Gwen (Abbeville, AL)

very informative and interesting

Matthew (Phoenix, AZ)

very engaging...good speaker

Daniel (New York, NY)

Good synthesis of an important case

Nicholas (San Francisco, CA)

A clear, intelligent and highly analytic explanation of an very important First Amendment case. Brilliant.

Tim (Denver, CO)

Very interesting! Colbert SuperPAC is the only good this to come out of Citizens United!

Michael (Renton, WA)

Great speaker.

Irwin (Buffalo Grove, IL)

Probably the best course I have viewed so far. Very effective speaker and very clear program materials.

Kathleen (Kerrville, TX)

Fascinating and very informative. Wonderful job on giving the background and history so important to understanding the case and it's significance. Excellent!

Kathleen (Chicago, IL)

The speaker was very good.

Tiffani (Highland Park, IL)

Very interesting - great program!

John (New York, NY)

compelling presentaiton that made lasting impression....should be mandatory for all citizens

Jose (North Miami Beach, FL)

great

MICHAEL (SALT LAKE CITY, UT)

Very interesting and informative on the topic.

MARJORIE (New York, NY)

Manages to cover a lot of pretty complex material (cases) in one hour.

Roger (Phoenix, AZ)

exceptional speaker

W. Rainer (Osprey, FL)

Excellent summary and explanation of an important case

H. Michael (Willowbrook, IL)

good presenter

Andrew (Cape Canaveral, FL)

Mr. Simpson is a wonderful presenter. Here presented the topic with great clarity and knowledge.

Sheila (McDaniels, KY)

Interesting

Michael (Northbrook, IL)

Fantastic job. Should be made part of CLE requirements, as well as any high school/college 1st Amendment class.

Kenneth (Arlington Heights, IL)

very well spoken and to the point

Adam (Chicago, IL)

Very informative and well presented

Steven (Palatine, IL)

Best one so far.

David (Hinsdale, IL)

complex but outstanding job - Best instructor ever!!

Dino (Richmond, VA)

Well done.

george (St. Petersburg, FL)

Exceptionally effective summation of complex material.

Michael (Chicago, IL)

Fantastic speaker and content.

joe (Mesa, AZ)

Way better than I thought it would be. Clear presentation and got right to the specifics in plain english

Ali (Oak Park, AL)

Best presentation on Lawline that I have seen.

Thomas (Evanston, IL)

Very clearly presented

James (Scottsdale, AZ)

very good job.

Alvin (Cohoes, NY)

To the speaker's credit, I couldn't tell which side of the issue he was on until the end when he said so.

Erik (Grand Junction, CO)

Really good overview and discussed the impact of Citizens United without all the hyperbole in the media.

Jonathan (New York, NY)

Zaharit (New York, NY)

Succinct, engaging, informative.

Theodore (Waterbury, VT)

Wow.

Lee (Arlington, VA)

Excellent.

Hugh (Bradenton, FL)

Very good speaker.

Casimir (Wheeling, IL)

Outstanding presentation, particularly relevant in the upcoming election cycle--especially in light of the continuing assault on our constitutional rights by the current administration and its regulatory agencies.

Mark (North Las Vegas, NV)

Probably the most interesting of all of the lectures that I have listened to thus far.

Michael (Decatur, GA)

Excellent discussion of a complicated area of law.

Daniel (San Rafael, CA)

Great stuff- depressing result, but fantastic work by the presenter.

Charles (Oakland, CA)

Best I've seen. Gringrich won in SC tonight and this was on point and informative.

Laurence (River Edge, NJ)

Evenhanded and thoughtful. It would be interesting to have Mr. Simpson revisit the topic in the light of the 2012 election.

Arch (Atlanta, GA)

excellent

Richard (Garden Grove, CA)

very knowledgable!

David (Montgomery, AL)

Strong substance

Valerie (Hoboken, NJ)

excellent speaker. organized presentation and clearly explained.

Lisa (Forest Grove, OR)

excellent analysis and explanation of the case

Sarah (Birmingham , AL)

Very informative and easy to follow. By far the best seminar I've listened to on your site. Great speaker, very organized, excellent slides.

Damian (Seattle, WA)

Very well done

Gary (Portland, OR)

Excellent presentation!

Brendan (Houston, TX)

OK, I admit I'm a bit of a political junkie and a bit of a geek for this thing... but I'm actually going to watch this again, just because it is that interesting! He is an excellent teacher and a real subject matter expert.

Mark (PORTLAND, OR)

The best speaker/presenter thus far. Excellent CLE. Very informative.

Thomas L. (Lawrenceville, GA)

Good

Meredith (Atlanta, GA)

Great presentation! Very interesting and relevant - great topic!

Max (Fortuna, CA)

Good speaker.

Chris (Houston, TX)

Excellent job---very organized and precise summary of the case/implications.

Sam (Salem, OR)

Excellent! Mr. Simpson is a very good speaker and does a great job of holding your attention.

Claire (Louisville, KY)

very easy to understand voice and presentation style!

Mark (Sugarland, TX)

Great and very current and relevant primer on the first amendment and campaign finance law.

Christian (Alexandria, VA)

A great overview of the evolution of campaign finance law and thorough analysis of recent important developments.

Richard (Columbus, OH)

Excellent insights

Sharon (Vienna, VA)

this is excelent

virginia (mattapoisett, MA)

interesting and timely

Steven (Fruit Heights, UT)

Good

Michael (Richmond, VA)

VERY GOOD.

TeriMichelle (Chesapeake, VA)

A "must-read" for politicos! Good analysis of landmark case.

Chalin (Alexandria, VA)

So often discussion of this case gets blurred by political ideology. Very refreshing to see an objective presentation of the facts and decision before the court.

Brad (Bend, OR)

good program, good job of putting it at appropriate level of detail for non con law lawyers

Michael (Austin, TX)

Excellent program. Great speaker.

Richard (Walnut Creek, CA)

Outstanding presentation! I plead complete ignorance of the campaign finance laws, but I found the speaker so well versed on the topic that he took an otherwise arcane and complex area of law and distilled the decision down to essentials such that a complete novice as myself could understand and appreciate the significance of the decision. Please pass on my congratulations to the speaker. Thank you.

Daniel (Buffalo Grove, IL)

Knowledgeable and engaging speaker

Salvatore (Bloomingdale, IL)

An excellent presentation on a complicated, but interesting topic

Robert (Salt Lake City, UT)

I am not interested in the least bit in campaign finance - it was just in the CLE bundle I purchased. Notwithstanding that, I found the lecture to be very interesting and engaging.

Geoffrey (Chappaqua, NY)

Very good presentation. I feel that I have a much better understanding of the case than I got by only reading it. I also appreciate his invitation to visit his organization's website.

Andrew (New York, NY)

Clear and precise ... a superb presentation.

Jamilee (Rochester Hills, MI)

It broke down the case in an organized and understandable way.

Ross (San Francisco, CA)

Well done and very interesting

Mark (Sunnyvale, CA)

Excellent presentation! Very clear analysis that is closely tracked with the written materials.

Emil (San Diego, CA)

Great explanation of a controversial case.

Michael (New York, NY)

Excellent and illuminating presentation on the case.

Eugene (Carmel Valley, CA)

Mr. Simpson is far and away the best prepared, best organized, most articulate and most interesting speaker that I have encountered thus far.

Rita (Walnut, CA)

very engaging speaker and used good technique of prefacing where he was going so we could folow -I could have listened for another hour

Carmen R (Cordova, TN)

Nice presentation, knowledgeable and seemingly objective. Depressing decision.

Grant (Campbell, CA)

Very informative! More from IJ, please!

Susan (Marble Rock, IA)

Well presented.

Chris (Portland, OR)

Excellent presetnation to show Citizens United's impact.

Douglas (Salem, OR)

This speaker did a great job of cogently explaining complex constitutional concepts. Highly recommended.

Jaime (Phoenix, AZ)

interesting review of a landmark case

Jeff (Portland, OR)

Really interesting and topical.

Danita (Montebello, CA)

This course is very practical and helpful for attorneys involved in election law or campaign finance. Please provide more similar courses.

Jason (San Francisco, CA)

Great, timely session.

Carol (Greenwich, CT)

Very good speaker on a very interesting topic.

George (Chicago, IL)

very good, very informative. not my area, but it was quite interesting.

bruno (hempstead, NY)

great presentation

John (New York, NY)

fascinating stuff. well done.

Robert (Westport, CT)

Excellent speaker, well organized, interesting and relevant topic.

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