Case Brief Of Buckley Vs Valeo

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Buckley v. Valeo is a legal case heard and ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 30, 1976 in regards to campaign financing. It centered around the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) that was created in 1971 to limit sources of funding for candidates running for federal office in order to lower the potential for corruption and potentially altering the outcome of an election. The expenditure and contribution regulations set forth in the Act caused major discord and dispute resulting in the controversial proceeding of Buckley v. Valeo.

James L Buckley was a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Buckley also served as a United States Senator for the state of New York.

Modern campaigning in the twentieth century began to take shape leading to an abuse of money and power in

District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the amendments from affecting the 1976 election. An array of angry individuals and political groups convinced that the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 violated their core First Amendment rights filed a law suit led by Senator James L. Buckley against Francis Valeo, the then secretary of the Senate and thus a non-voting member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Buckley served on behalf of many plaintiffs alleging that FECA violated the First Amendment right to freedom of speech brought the hearing to district court first followed by the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia whom upheld the law which led to the case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The courts maintained federal limits on campaign contributions and ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech. Plaintiffs also cited not only the First Amendment but the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause as well but was dismissed by the