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CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COM'N
Supreme Court of United States (2009) | 130 S.Ct. 876; 558 U.S. 310
TL;DR: A nonprofit corporation challenged a federal law banning corporate-funded independent political expenditures near an election. The Supreme Court held the ban unconstitutional, ruling that the First Amendment protects political speech by corporations and unions, and the government cannot suppress speech based on the speaker's corporate identity.
Legal Significance: This landmark decision dramatically reshaped campaign finance law by holding that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. It overruled *Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce*, establishing that the First Amendment protects speech regardless of the speaker's corporate identity.