Supreme Court will hear challenges to campaign law

Craig Gilbert reports in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that one case arose in Wisconsin and presents a legal challenge to the application, though not the constitutionality, of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

In the Wisconsin Right to Life case, the organization launched an ad campaign last year knowing it would force a test of the law's reach. The ads asked people in the state to telephone Feingold and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl and urge them to oppose efforts to block Bush's judicial nominees.

Though the ads didn't criticize either senator, they fell afoul of the law's definition of "electioneering." Under that definition, any radio or TV ads aired within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary, and that name a federal candidate, face disclosure rules and fund-raising limits. Among other things, such ads can't be paid for with corporate money, as the Wisconsin Right to Life ads were.

Because Feingold was up for re-election, the mention of his name triggered the law.