The Iowa Caucus is less than two weeks away, which means the 2012 election cycle is officially upon us.

This year’s presidential election will be the first employing the relaxed campaign expenditure restrictions from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which has prompted a number of challenges to state and local campaign laws. This week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a contested New York City campaign finance law, rejecting arguments that the law imposed an unconstitutional burden to contributors’ First Amendment rights.

The Second Circuit of Appeals ruled that the pay-to-play rules were an appropriate response to the City’s campaign corruption problems.

The court found that “contributions to candidates for city office from persons with a particularly direct financial interest in these officials’ policy decisions pose a heightened risk of actual and apparent corruption, and merit heightened government regulations.”

Thomson Reuters News & Insight notes that the Second Circuit’s opinion doesn’t contradict Citizens United because the challenged campaign finance law in this case restricts campaign contributions, while Citizens United addressed campaign expenditures. The difference? Contributions are funneled into a candidate’s campaign coffers.

While the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the New York City campaign finance law, some election-based laws are being overturned in the wake of Citizens United. Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck a Wisconsin law that capped total political speech contributions during a calendar year.

Related Resources:

  • Ognibene v. Parkes (FindLaw’s CaseLaw)
  • Citizens United v. FEC (FindLaw’s CaseLaw)
  • Doing Business Accountability Project: “Pay-to-Play” Reform (NYC Mayor’s Office of Contract Services)
  • The Supreme Court Rejects a Limit on Corporate-Funded Campaign Speech (FindLaw)

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