Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee

Summary

The Court held that the Democratic Party lacked statutory standing to bring a private action seeking a declaration that the presidential public-financing restriction was constitutional, although the Democratic National Committee and an eligible voter were authorized plaintiffs only for appropriate actions consistent with the statutory enforcement scheme. The Court nevertheless affirmed that the restriction on independent expenditures by political committees violated the First Amendment because such expenditures constitute core political speech, the statute was not narrowly tailored to preventing corruption, and its broad application was impermissibly overinclusive. The Democrats' complaint was therefore ordered dismissed for lack of standing.