Supremes Let Up on Political Ad Limits

Conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened one of the major strictures of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law today, relaxing the definition of prohibited ads in the run-up to federal elections. An increasingly familiar 5-4 majority declared that "issue ads," which stump for political platforms without explicitly endorsing a candidate, are protected speech.

The decision reverses a precedent as young as 2003, when a different lineup of justices sanctioned a ban on ads even mentioning a candidate's name. Writing for the majority, chief John Roberts bemoaned the diaphanous distinction between opining and endorsing, writing that "the First Amendment requires us to err on the side of protecting political speech rather than suppressing it.” (More McCain Feingold stories.)