Buckley V. Valeo - Facts

Facts

In 1974, over the veto of President Gerald R. Ford, the Congress passed significant amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, creating the first comprehensive effort by the federal government to regulate campaign contributions and spending. The key parts of the amended law did the following

• limited contributions to candidates for federal office (2 USC §441a)
• required the disclosure of political contributions (2 USC §434),
• provided for the public financing of presidential elections (IRC Subtitle H),
• limited expenditures by candidates and associated committees,
• except for presidential candidates who accepted public funding (formerly 18 U.S.C. §608(c) (1)(C-F)),
• limited independent expenditures to $1000 (formerly 18 U.S.C. §608e),
• limited candidate expenditures from personal funds (formerly 18 U.S.C. §608a),
• created and fixed the method of appointing members to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (formerly 2 U.S.C. §437c(a) (1)(A-C)).

A lawsuit was filed in the District Court for the D.C., on January 2, 1975, by Senator James L. Buckley of New York, former Senator, 1968 presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, and others. The suit was filed against Francis R. Valeo, the Secretary of the Senate and ex officio member of the FEC who represented the U.S. federal government. The court denied plaintiffs' request for declaratory and injunctive relief. Plaintiffs then appealed to the Court of Appeals.

The petitioners sought for the district court to overturn the key provisions outlined above. They argued that the legislation was in violation of the 1st and 5th Amendment rights to freedom of expression and due process, respectively.