First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti

E425635

First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded First Amendment protections by recognizing corporations’ rights to spend money to influence ballot initiatives.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
landmark First Amendment case ⓘ
areaOfLaw constitutional law ⓘ
corporate law ⓘ
election law ⓘ
arguedDate 1977-11-09 ⓘ
citation 435 U.S. 765 ⓘ
55 L. Ed. 2d 707 ⓘ
98 S. Ct. 1407 ⓘ
concurrenceBy Potter Stewart ⓘ
Warren E. Burger ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionAppliedToStatesBy Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
court Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate 1978-04-26 ⓘ
dissentBy Byron R. White ⓘ
Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
docketNumber 76-1172 ⓘ
holding Corporations have a First Amendment right to attempt to influence the outcome of ballot initiatives through expenditures for political speech. ⓘ
The First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting corporate independent expenditures related to ballot initiatives based on the corporate identity of the speaker. ⓘ
impact expanded First Amendment protections for corporate political speech ⓘ
influenced later campaign finance jurisprudence ⓘ
joinedMajority Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ
Potter Stewart ⓘ
Warren E. Burger ⓘ
William H. Rehnquist (in part and dissenting in part) ⓘ
jurisdiction United States ⓘ
languageOfOpinion English ⓘ
legalIssue First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
campaign finance regulation ⓘ
corporate political speech ⓘ
freedom of speech ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ
originatingJurisdiction Massachusetts ⓘ
petitioner First National Bank of Boston ⓘ
linked to: First National Bank
relatedCase Buckley v. Valeo ⓘ
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ⓘ
respondent Francis X. Bellotti ⓘ
respondentOffice Attorney General of Massachusetts ⓘ
result Massachusetts statute declared unconstitutional as applied to corporate expenditures on ballot questions. ⓘ
stateLawChallenged Massachusetts statute restricting corporate spending on ballot initiatives ⓘ
subjectMatter corporate expenditures in ballot measure campaigns ⓘ
state regulation of corporate political activity ⓘ
yearDecided 1978 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court → hasNotableCase → First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti ⓘ
Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce → relatedCase → First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti ⓘ