Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett
United States Supreme Court
131 S.Ct. 2806 (2011)
Relevant factsFree
Under Arizona's Clean Elections Act, a publicly-financed candidate received roughly matching funds from the state for every dollar spent by an opposing privately-funded candidate or independent group past a certain threshold; privately-funded candidates and groups (plaintiffs) challenged this matching-funds provision as burdening their speech, and the court of appeals had found only a minimal burden serving a compelling anticorruption interest.
IssueFree
Whether a state law that financially hinders one political candidate in favor of an opposing candidate in the absence of a compelling state interest burdens free speech and violates the First Amendment.