The Supreme Court case brought by former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith captured the media spotlight outside the Court chamber on Tuesday. But inside it was the other argument of the day, involving campaign finance reform, that had the justices’ full attention.
From the intense questioning of the justices during Randall v. Sorrell, the Court seems poised to reject the severe limitations on both campaign donations and spending that Vermont’s Legislature enacted in 1997. Candidates for legislative offices are restricted to spending as little as $2,500 in a campaign, while individual donations are capped at $200 in a two-year election cycle in some races.
