Outside Voices: Soft-money ban in peril

Los Angeles Times, April 5: After the Supreme Court ruled in January that corporations may spend money to support or oppose the election of candidates, some reformers worried that the decision would doom all efforts by Congress to limit the effects of money in politics. But in a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee and the California Republican Party, a federal court last month upheld the centerpiece of the McCain-Feingold law: a ban on unlimited “soft money” contributions to political parties. If conservatives on the Supreme Court don’t want to be accused of fostering an anything-goes attitude toward corruption, they’ll uphold the decision.

Although the ban on soft money survived the court’s January decision, four members of the majority in that ruling – Justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Samuel A. Alito Jr. – may be willing to do away with the contribution expenditure distinction. That means that the future of restrictions on special-interest contributions may depend on Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s willingness to start living up to the respect for precedent he professed in his confirmation hearings.

San Jose Mercury News, April 8: The Federal Communications Commission must move swiftly to reclaim its authority after Tuesday’s court ruling that it doesn’t have the power to punish Comcast – or any other carrier – for limiting access to the Internet.

This may not be as difficult as some suggest. The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruling said the FCC did not have jurisdiction over broadband services, which it had claimed under Title I of the Communications Act. But the agency could reclassify broadband under a different section of the law, Title II, which is used to regulate telephone companies. That would probably be challenged as well, but experts say it’s more likely to hold up in court.

Commissioner Michael Copps is advocating this approach: The FCC should “rely on the statute Congress gave us to stand on solid legal ground in safeguarding the benefits of the Internet for American consumers. We should straighten this broadband classification mess out before the first day of summer.”

The sooner the better.