INSTITUTE INDEX: A Supreme Court win for the plutocrats sparks protests

By Sue Sturgis / April 4, 2014

This rally in Arkansas was among more than 150 protests held nationwide this week in response to the Supreme Court's McCutcheon decision lifting limits on campaign contributions. (Photo courtesy of Public Citizen; to see more photos from this week's protests click here.)

Date on which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down campaign contribution limits capping the amount an individual can give to federal candidates and parties in a two-year election cycle in a case brought by Alabama businessman and conservative donor Shaun McCutcheon and joined by the Republican National Committee: 4/2/2014

Previous limit on the amount each donor could give to party committees and political action committees per cycle under the law: $74,600

Previous limit on the amount each donor could give to all federal candidates per cycle: $48,600

Amount an individual donor can now give if he maxes out his contributions: $3.5 million

Percent of the U.S. population that gave more than $2,500 in political contributions in the last election cycle: 0.08

Number of donors who came close to surpassing the stricken aggregate limits in the 2012 election cycle: 1,219

Portion of those elite donors who are women: 1 in 4

Portion of those elite donors who live in a neighborhood that is majority African-American or Hispanic: fewer than 1 in 50

Portion of U.S. billionaires among those elite donors: 1 in 6

Number of states with their own campaign finance limits that will be voided by the McCutcheon v. FEC decision: 11*

The Supreme Court's vote on the ruling, which followed the court's conservative/liberal split: 5-4

Of a half-dozen earlier campaign finance cases considered by the Roberts court, number in which any of the five conservative justices supported campaign finance limits: 0

Number of the Supreme Court justices who have held elected office and thus have direct experience of how campaign finance works: 0

Number of protests against the McCutcheon decision held across the U.S. the same day the Supreme Court handed down its ruling: more than 150

Number of people who have signed a Public Citizen petition calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn both the McCutcheon ruling and the 2010 Citizens United decision that opened the door to anonymous outside money in elections: more than 36,000

* Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, along with the District of Columbia.

(Click on figure to go to source.)

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