On February 19, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted one campaign finance case, and took no action on whether to hear another one. The accepted case is McCutcheon v FEC, 12-536. The lower court had upheld federal limits on how much money an individual may donate in any two-year period to all federal candidates combined. This is not a case about how much an individual may contribute to any one particular federal candidate, but a case about the total amount of money an individual may give to any and all candidates.

The case in which the Court deferred a decision is Danielczyk v U.S., 12-579, over the federal law that makes it illegal for a corporation to donate to a candidate for federal office. The lower court had upheld the law.

McCutcheon v FEC will not be argued until the U.S. Supreme Court term that begins in October 2013.

Also on February 19, the Court refused to grant a stay in Noonan v Bowen, 12A606, in which the former California state chair of the American Independent Party had argued that President Obama doesn’t meet the constitutional qualifications.

It also refused to hear LaVergne v Blank, 12-778, over whether the Constitution requires that the size of the U.S. House be substantially increased, and whether or not a “proto-First Amendment” actually passed in 1792, requiring one U.S. House seat for each 50,000 residents.