`
`
`Per Curiam
`SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
`
` AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP, INC., FKA
`
`WESTERN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP, INC.,
`
`
`
`ET AL. v. STEVE BULLOCK, ATTORNEY
`
`
`GENERAL OF MONTANA, ET AL.
`
`ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME
`
`
`COURT OF MONTANA
`
`No. 11–1179. Decided June 25, 2012
`
` PER CURIAM.
`A Montana state law provides that a “corporation may
`
`not make . . . an expenditure in connection with a candi-
`date or a political committee that supports or opposes a
`candidate or a political party.” Mont. Code Ann. §13–
`
`35–227(1) (2011). The Montana Supreme Court rejected
`petitioners’ claim that this statute violates the First
`Amendment. 2011 MT 328, 363 Mont. 220, 271 P. 3d 1.
`
`In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, this
`Court struck down a similar federal law, holding that
`
`“political speech does not lose First Amendment protection
`simply because its source is a corporation.” 558 U. S. ___,
`___ (2010) (slip op., at 26) (internal quotation marks omit-
`ted). The question presented in this case is whether the
`holding of Citizens United applies to the Montana state
`
`law. There can be no serious doubt that it does. See U. S.
`
`Const., Art. VI, cl. 2. Montana’s arguments in support of
`the judgment below either were already rejected in Citi-
`zens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case.
`
`
`The petition for certiorari is granted. The judgment of
`the Supreme Court of Montana is reversed.
`
`
`1
`
`
`
`
`It is so ordered.
`
`
`
`1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` Cite as: 567 U. S. ____ (2012)
`
`BREYER, J., dissenting
`
`SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
`
` AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP, INC., FKA
`
`WESTERN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP, INC.,
`
`
`
`ET AL. v. STEVE BULLOCK, ATTORNEY
`
`
`GENERAL OF MONTANA, ET AL.
`
`ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME
`
`
`COURT OF MONTANA
`
`No. 11–1179. Decided June 25, 2012
`
`
` JUSTICE BREYER, with whom JUSTICE GINSBURG, JUS-
`
`TICE SOTOMAYOR, and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting.
`
`
`In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the
`
`Court concluded that “independent expenditures, includ
`ing those made by corporations, do not give rise to corrup
`tion or the appearance of corruption.” 558 U. S. ___, ___
`(2010) (slip op., at 42). I disagree with the Court’s hold-
`ing for the reasons expressed in Justice Stevens’ dissent
`in that case. As Justice Stevens explained, “technically in
`dependent expenditures can be corrupting in much the
`same way as direct contributions.” Id., at ___ (slip op., at
`67–68). Indeed, Justice Stevens recounted a “substantial
`body of evidence” suggesting that “[m]any corporate inde
`pendent expenditures . . . had become essentially inter
`changeable with direct contributions in their capacity to
`generate quid pro quo arrangements.” Id., at ___ (slip op.,
`at 64–65).
`Moreover, even if I were to accept Citizens United, this
`
`
`Court’s legal conclusion should not bar the Montana Su
`preme Court’s finding, made on the record before it, that
`independent expenditures by corporations did in fact lead
`to corruption or the appearance of corruption in Montana.
`Given the history and political landscape in Montana, that
`court concluded that the State had a compelling interest in
`limiting independent expenditures by corporations. 2011
`MT 328, ¶¶ 36–37, 363 Mont. 220, 235–236, 271 P. 3d 1,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`2 AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP, INC. v. BULLOCK
`
`
`BREYER, J., dissenting
`
`36–37. Thus, Montana’s experience, like considerable ex
`perience elsewhere since the Court’s decision in Citizens
`
`
`United, casts grave doubt on the Court’s supposition that
`
`independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do
`
`so.
`
`
`Were the matter up to me, I would vote to grant the
`
`petition for certiorari in order to reconsider Citizens United
`
`or, at least, its application in this case. But given the
`
`Court’s per curiam disposition, I do not see a significant
`
`possibility of reconsideration. Consequently, I vote in
`stead to deny the petition.
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
