The state's high court on Friday agreed with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's challenge saying the law violates the free-speech rights of privately funded candidates and is, therefore, unconstitutional.
(AP) —
The Nebraska Supreme Court has declared the state's embattled campaign finance law unconstitutional.
The 1992 law provides money to a candidate for state constitutional office who agrees to abide by a spending limit, and whose opponent does not. The money comes from a fund fed mainly with late campaign filing fees and campaign violation fines collected by the state, as well as a taxpayer checkoff on state tax income returns.
The law was intended to restrain the influence of money in politics, but last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down similar spending rules in Arizona.
The state's high court on Friday agreed with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's challenge saying the law violates the free-speech rights of privately funded candidates and is, therefore, unconstitutional.
