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The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that their 2010 Citizens United decision, allowing unlimited corporate spending on political campaigns, applies to state and local elections as well as national ones. The decision struck down a 100-year-old Montana law that forbade corporations from spending money on political candidates or parties in state elections. Montana’s campaign law was enacted in 1912 to rein in corruption caused by the unbridled political spending of copper mining companies. Montana’s State Supreme Court last year upheld the law, ruling that the state’s history of corruption justified the ban on corporate spending.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision on the grounds of its Citizens United ruling that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption.” The Court did not hear any arguments in the case because it determined that the Citizens United decision clearly applied to it. The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer and supported by the other three Democrat-nominated justices, argued that Montana’s history with corporate donations, “[c]asts grave doubt on the Court’s supposition that independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do so.”

Critics of the ruling contend that this decision bolsters corporate political power while hindering the influence of citizens. The ruling comes at a time when increasing numbers of Americans, such as Occupy Wall Street activists, are voicing their disenchantment with corporate money in politics. In light of Monday’s decision, activists say it now appears that the only way to counter Citizens United will be to pass a constitutional amendment curtailing corporate money in politics, unless a new Court majority eventually overturns the ruling.

GUEST: Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s Government Affairs Lobbyist

Visit www.resolutionsweek.org and www.citizen.org for more information.