On November 29, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that it had decided last Tuesday to hear the Arizona public funding case. Technically, it is two cases that the Court is combining: McComish v Bennett, 10-239; and Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v Bennett, 10-238.
The issue is whether a state’s public funding for candidates program may provide extra public funding for candidates who have privately-funded opponents with a great deal of resources. This will be the second case the Supreme Court has ever taken that concerns public funding for candidates. The first was Buckley v Valeo, which upheld the presidential public funding system in 1976. See this story by Joan Biskupic.
Gee – is each candidate getting EQUAL public funding ???
Equal as in the EQUAL Protection Clause — regardless of any 1st Amdt stuff.