First National Bank v. Bellotti
Dr. Linda M. Perry
Title--first listed is appellant (First National Bank et al.); next is appellee (Francis Bellotti, Massachusetts Attorney General). FNB is appealing lower court decision (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts).
Justice Lewis Powell worte the opinion for the 5-4 majority. What was holding? White wrote a dissenting opinion for three; Rehnquist wrote separate dissent.
Facts--What was the statute at issue? (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., ch. 55 § 8) What were the penalities for violating the law? Did Bellotti intend to enforce this law? Why did the banks and other corporations (see fn 1) challenge the law? (What did they want to do? What were their arguments/reasoning?) What did they ask the courts to do? What did the Massachusetts court decide?
Issue--The banks rephrased the issue, or question, before the Court. What was the issue according to FNB? What did the Court say the issue really was? What was the Court's answer to the two points of the specific issue?
Appellant argument? (Hint: Constitutional rights)
Appellee argument? What interests did the statute serve, or how would the corporate speech endanger those interests?
Reasoning--What right (and whose) did the Court tie a corporation's right to free speech? What kind of speech was at issue? What does the Court say about how courts will examine prohibitions on this kind of speech? What does the Court say about the First Amendment in relation to the press (and why do you think the Court mentions the press in this context?
Rules of Law--Judges make law by making rules that can be applied in subsequent cases that come before the Court. Can you find some rules of law to come out of this case? Hint: they're tied to the issue and are usually buried in the reasoning.
Dissent--Sometimes, in time, a dissenting opinion turns out to be more important than the Court's actual decision. The dissent in this case explains the fear behind corporate power, and we'll see these fears expressed again when we discuss contributions to federal election candidates. Justice William Brennan, the Court's champion of the First Amendment joined this opinion? Why do you think the usual supporters of First Amendment rights would not want the same rights for corporations?