First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti

First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 9, 1977 Decided April 26, 1978
Full case name	First National Bank of Boston, et al. v. Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General of Massachusetts
Citations	435 U.S. 765 (more) 98 S. Ct. 1407; 55 L. Ed. 2d 707; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 83
Argument	Oral argument
Opinion announcement	Opinion announcement
Case history
Prior	First Nat. Bank of Bos. v. Attorney Gen., 371 Mass. 773, 359 N.E.2d 1262 (1977)
Subsequent	Rehearing denied, 438 U.S. 907 (1978).
Holding
Corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions in ballot initiative campaigns.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Powell, joined by Burger, Stewart, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence	Burger
Dissent	White, joined by Brennan, Marshall
Dissent	Rehnquist
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765 (1978), is a U.S. constitutional law case which defined the free speech right of corporations for the first time. The United States Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns.^[1] The ruling came in response to a Massachusetts law that prohibited corporate donations in ballot initiatives unless the corporation's interests were directly involved.

In 1976 several corporations, including the First National Bank of Boston, were barred from contributing to a Massachusetts referendum regarding tax policy and subsequently sued. The case was successfully appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in November 1977. On April 26, 1978, the Court ruled 5–4 against the Massachusetts law.

As a result of the ruling, states could no longer impose specific regulations on donations from corporations in ballot initiative campaigns. While the Bellotti decision did not directly affect federal law, it has been cited by other Supreme Court cases such as McConnell v. FEC and Citizens United v. FEC.