Contribution Limits: Caps on First Amendment Activity

January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

Contribution limits are monetary restrictions on the amount an individual or group can donate to a political actor – usually a candidate, political party, or political action committee. The Supreme Court first allowed limits on contributions in Buckley v. Valeo. The Court’s ruling acknowledged that contribution limits were a restriction on First Amendment activity, but allowed them on the theory…

Comments to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices

June 20, 2024   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , ,

On June 18, 2024, the Institute for Free Speech provided comments to the Executive Director of  the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election ...

Free Speech Arguments – Episode 11: NRSC v. FEC

June 12, 2024   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , ,

National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. Federal Election Commission, et al., argued en banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth ...

Oklahoma Governor’s Task Force on Campaign Finance and Election Threats Recommends Campaign Finance Reforms

May 6, 2024   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , , , ,

Earlier this year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s Task Force on Campaign Finance and Election Threats invited Institute for Free Speech President David Keating and ...

Institute for Free Speech Urges Sixth Circuit to Protect Free Political Speech in the Form of Coordinated Political Party Expenditures

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March 12, 2024   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

The brief argues that limits on such expenditures violate the First Amendment because the rule is not narrowly tailored to prevent quid pro quo ...

State Contribution Limits Report

March 11, 2024   •  By Alec Greven   •  , ,

This comprehensive report examines the limits that all 50 states place on individual contributions to campaigns for major elected offices.

Statement of Bradley A. Smith and David Keating before the 2023 Kansas Special Committee on Governmental Ethics Reform, Campaign Finance Law

October 5, 2023   •  By Brad Smith and David Keating   •  , , , ,

Statement of Bradley A. Smith, Chairman, Institute for Free Speech; Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law, Capital University Law School and ...

Report on Inflation Adjustments to State Contribution Limits

September 19, 2023   •  By Alec Greven   •  , ,

Failure to protect campaign contribution limits from inflation harms free political speech.

Unconstitutional Contribution Limits Repealed in Maine

June 27, 2023   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

An unfair and unconstitutional system that curtailed political speech rights for Maine legislators and donors alike has come to an end, thanks in part ...

Alec Greven: Protecting democracy, or gagging businesses?

June 9, 2023   •  By Alec Greven   •  , ,

Protecting democracy, or gagging businesses?

Laurel Libby Sues to Strike Down Unconstitutional Restrictions on Political Speech

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May 31, 2023   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

A recent change to Maine law creates an unfair and unconstitutional system that gives even more influence to the most powerful political leaders and ...

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