Buckley v. Valeo

E425629

Buckley v. Valeo is a landmark 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision that reshaped campaign finance law by equating certain limits on political spending with restrictions on free speech under the First Amendment.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
campaign finance case
landmark decision
arguedDate 1975-11-10
challengedStatute Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
citation 424 U.S. 1
46 L. Ed. 2d 659
96 S. Ct. 612
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Article I of the United States Constitution
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
createdOrAffectedBody Federal Election Commission
decidedIn 1976
decisionDate 1976-01-30
defendant Francis R. Valeo
defendantPosition Secretary of the United States Senate
distinguished contributions from expenditures for First Amendment analysis
docketNumber 75-436
establishedDoctrine contribution–expenditure distinction in campaign finance law
money as a form of political speech
fullCaseName James L. Buckley et al. v. Francis R. Valeo, Secretary of the United States Senate, et al.
linked to: Buckley v. Valeo
hasJurisdiction United States
held disclosure and reporting requirements for campaign contributions are generally constitutional
limits on candidates’ personal expenditures in campaigns violate the First Amendment
limits on direct contributions to candidates are generally constitutional
limits on independent expenditures in campaigns violate the First Amendment
mandatory limits on overall campaign expenditures violate the First Amendment
original method of appointing Federal Election Commission members was unconstitutional
preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption is a sufficiently important governmental interest to justify contribution limits
public financing of presidential campaigns is constitutional
impact influenced later campaign finance cases such as Citizens United v. FEC
limited Congress’s ability to cap campaign spending
reshaped U.S. campaign finance law
language English
legalSubject campaign finance
constitutional law
election law
majorityOpinionBy per curiam
plaintiff James L. Buckley
rearguedDate 1975-11-12
1975-11-13
1975-11-19
1975-11-25
1975-11-26
standardOfReview exacting scrutiny for contribution limits
strict scrutiny for expenditure limits
term 1975 Term

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Federal Election Campaign Act subjectOf Buckley v. Valeo
Warren Burger Court notableCase Buckley v. Valeo
Buckley v. Valeo fullCaseName James L. Buckley et al. v. Francis R. Valeo, Secretary of the United States Senate, et al.
linked to: Buckley v. Valeo
Appointments Clause citedInCase Buckley v. Valeo