RNC asks Supreme Court to ease restrictions on political party speechRNC Communications FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 8, 2010 RNC ASKS SUPREME COURT TO EASE RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL PARTY SPEECH WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee and Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao today asked the Supreme Court of the United States today to consider their constitutional challenge to the laws that limit the amount of money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates to the extent that those expenditures constitute the party’s speech. “This case goes to the core of the First Amendment,” said RNC Chairman Michael Steele. “The right of political parties to express their members’ views about their candidates for office while also working directly with those candidates to help elect them is crucial to a healthy democracy. Encroachments on this right are unconstitutional, and we are asking the Supreme Court to recognize that.” The filing, called a petition for a writ of certiorari, was filed on the RNC’s behalf by James Bopp, Jr. an Indiana campaign finance attorney and an RNC vice-chairman. The case, Cao v. FEC, arose from the RNC’s desire to run an ad for Cao’s election in 2008 that would have been coordinated with the Cao campaign only as to the timing of the ad’s airing. The petition is available at jamesmadisoncenter.org/. ### Paid for by the Republican National Committee |