FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee 2001 (Colorado Republican II)
The Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee challenged a provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) that restricts the amount of hard money political parties can spend in coordination with their congressional candidates.
Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission
Campaign Finance Reform
The Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee asserted a constitutional challenge to a provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) that restricts the amount of hard money political parties can spend on behalf of an in tandem with their congressional candidates.
The Center filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of 14 prominent political scientists urging the Court to uphold the provision.
In 2001, the Supreme Court upheld FECA’s “party coordinated spending” provision, and cited the Brennan Center’s brief in its decision. The Court held that FECA limits on parties’ coordinated expenditures are not unduly burdensome to parties; coordinated expenditure limits are subject to same scrutiny as Act’s limits on individuals’ and nonparty groups’ cash contributions; and coordinated expenditure limits comport with First Amendment’s free speech and associational guarantees.
Also see Colorado Republican I.