Federal Election Commission v. Christine Beaumont et al.

Decided June 16, 2003. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-403 · 539 U.S. 146 (2003) · Cited 176 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee · 459 U.S. 197 (1982)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• United States v. International Union United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers · 352 U.S. 567 (1957)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee · 470 U.S. 480 (1985)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Pipefitters Local Union No. 562 v. United States · 407 U.S. 385 (1972)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Cedric Kushner Promotions, Ltd. v. King · 533 U.S. 158 (2001)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. · 606 U.S. 748 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).