Hillary film in freedom of expression case

Agence France-Presse

The documentary about Hillary Clinton, now secretary of state, was produced by a conservative body, Citizens United, which was denied permission to air it on a pay-to-view cable television channel during her 2008 White House bid.

The Federal Elections Commission, or FEC, ruled that the producers had to conform to existing US laws on campaign financing, which require political advertisements to reveal the source of their funding.

The FEC said the 90-minute documentary, paid for by private individuals, carried an implicit message to vote against Clinton in the Democratic primaries, even if it did not say so outright.

Campaign finance laws were brought in to stop businesses, interest groups, political parties and unions from using their financial sway to swamp public airwaves with partisan messages.

Citizens United took the case to a federal court arguing they had the right to make such a movie under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. The federal court ruled in the FEC's favor. But the nine Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared to be leaning toward limiting the state's power to regulate such kinds of publicity.