According to this ABC News article, it’s possible. On February 17, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a recent Montana Supreme Court ruling that directly contradicts Citizens United by prohibiting campaign expenditures by corporations. The stay will remain in place pending further action of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Interestingly, in a statement attached to the upper court’s order Justice Ginsberg, joined by Justice Breyer, wrote:
Montana’s experience, and experience elsewhere since this Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption”…A petition for certiorari will give the Court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway. Because lower courts are bound to follow this Court’s decisions until they are withdrawn or modified, however…I vote to grant the stay.
So, where does the Montana case go from here? This Supreme Court blog article provides a thorough analysis of the options.
