ABSTRACT
In Buckley v. Valeo, 424 US 1 (1976), the US Supreme Court, with varying votes on a range of issues, upheld provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 as amended in 1974 but invalidated several other provisions. The case posed important questions under the First Amendment to the Constitution, particularly that amendment's protections for freedom of speech and freedom of association. In January 1975, Senator James L. Buckley filed suit in US District Court for the District of Columbia charging that FECA and Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act were unconstitutional on several grounds. The district court, in accordance with FECA provisions, certified the constitutional questions in the case to the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In August 1975 that court ruled to uphold the great majority of FECA's substantive provisions with respect to contributions, expenditures, and disclosure.
