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86 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1221 (2015)
The Support Structure for Campaign Finance Litigation in the Roberts Court: A Research Agenda

handle is hein.journals/ucollr86 and id is 1273 raw text is: THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE LITIGATION IN THE ROBERTS COURT: A RESEARCH AGENDA ANN SOUTHWORTH* Two recent Supreme Court decisions, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission1 and McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission,2 have sparked enormous public controversy over the Roberts Court's stance toward the regulation of money in politics.3 Supporters of the decisions laud them for striking down dangerous restrictions on freedom of speech,4 while critics assert that they have struck a terrible blow against democratic values and electoral integrity.5 These * Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine, School of Law. I am grateful to participants in UC Irvine Law School's Summer Workshop Series for advice at the outset of the project described in this essay. Thanks also to Aaron Benmark, Alexander Danielyan, Yashina Burns, and Thomas Eisweirth for their research assistance. 1. 558 U.S. 310 (2010) (striking down a prohibition on the use of corporate or union treasury funds to pay for electioneering communications or express advocacy not coordinated with a campaign). 2. 134 S. Ct. 1434 (2014) (finding unconstitutional federal aggregate limits on contributions to candidates, political parties, and political action committees). 3. President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts in 2005, initially to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. When Chief Justice William Rehnquist died before Roberts's confirmation hearings, President Bush nominated Roberts to become the new Chief Justice. 4. See, e.g., FLOYD ABRAMS, FRIEND OF THE COURT: ON THE FRONT LINES WITH THE FIRST AMENDMENT 303-47 (2013) (defending the ruling in Citizens United); Bradley A. Smith, Free Speech at Last: McCutcheon Decision Just Right, NAT'L REV. ONLINE (Apr. 2, 2014), http://www.nationalreview.com/article/374894/ free-speech-last-mccutcheon-decision-just-right-bradley-smith, archived at http:// perma.cc/GP6E-AMXV (describing McCutcheon as another step toward protecting political speech). 5. See, e.g., Erwin Chemerinsky, Future of Campaign Finance Laws, ORANGE COUNTY REG. (Apr. 8, 2014), http://www.ocregister.com/articles/court- 608924-political-campaign.html, archived at http://perma.cc/E5HA-FQZP (Those who spend huge sums, after McCutcheon, in contributions to political parties will be rightly perceived as having undue influence over the government that they helped to elect.); Richard L. Hasen, Worse Than Watergate: The New Campaign Finance Order Puts the Corruption of the 1970s to Shame, SLATE (July 19, 2012), http://www.slate.comlarticles/news-and politics/jurisprudence/2012/07/campaign finance_aftercitizensunited is-worsethanwatergate_.html, archived at http:// perma.cc/9DZZ-H3UK (How does the brave new world of campaign financing

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