On September 27, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear Vermont Republican State Committee v Sorrell, on whether a state can limit the amount of money any particular candidate spends (even when there is no public funding in place). The 2nd circuit had upheld Vermont limits on expenditures, even though in 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in Buckley v Valeo that expenditure limits violate the free speech part of the 1st amendment.