FEC v. NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK COMMITTEE

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether provisions of the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act restricting union and corporation's funds for political purposes to members of the corporation violate the First Amendment's guarantees of associational rights.

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

In April 1977, petitioner Federal Election Commission determined that there was probable cause to believe the National Right to Work Committee had violated provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which prohibits corporations and labor unions from making contributions or expenditures in connection with federal elections. The section, however, permits some participation by unions and corporations in the federal electoral process by allowing these organizations to establish and pay the expenses of "separate segregated funds" which may be used for political purposes during federal elections, with some restrictions, such as limiting contributions to "members" of the corporation. 

During 1976, respondent National Right to Work Committee solicited some 267,000 persons for contributions to a separate segregated fund that it sponsored. Another lobbying group, the Committee for an Effective Congress, filed a complaint with the FEC, asserting that National Right to Work Committee had violated Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by using corporate funds to solicit contributions from persons who were not stockholders, executive or administrative personnel, or their families. National Right to Work Committee did not deny these assertions, but took the position that the recipients of its solicitation letters were "members" within the proviso set forth in the Act. The Commission found probable cause to believe that a violation had occurred, and after completing the investigative procedures set out in the statute and unsuccessfully attempting to resolve the matter through conciliation, it authorized the filing of a civil enforcement suit.