Court rejects challenge to PAC law

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear a challenge to restrictions on political action committees.

Earlier this year in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a 5-4 Supreme Court decision struck down restrictions on corporations and unions that prevented them from buying "electioneering communications" 60 days before an election and 30 days before a primary.

The new challenge rejected Monday involved a petition by SpeechNow.org, which asked the Supreme Court to strike down federal laws requiring individuals who want to pool their money for political ads to form PACs and register with the government, The Hill reported. PACs are generally limited to spending $5,000 on a particular candidate or party per election. PACs must also report all financial activities to the FEC.

A federal appeals court in Washington ruled in March that the U.S. government could not limit contributions to groups such as SpeechNow.org, but upheld the requirement that the group become a PAC, the newspaper said.

In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled the government could not limit contributions to groups like SpeechNow.org, but upheld the requirement that the group become a PAC in order to spend money on political advertisements to support or oppose candidates.