Federal Courts dealt two blows to campaign spending limits earlier this month, withdrawing an earlier decision upholding such limits in Vermont, and striking down such limits in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

On October 3, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York withdrew its earlier decision that had upheld Vermont's limits on campaign spending by statewide and legislative candidates, stating that the decision was "withdrawn, pending further proceedings before and amendment by the panel" that originally heard the case. According to James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel for many of the plaintiffs, "this portends a major victory for free speech, it is apparent that the panel is planning a major re-write of its decision, and we expect that the new decision will follow the clear holdings of the Supreme Court and other Federal Circuits that candidate spending limits are unconstitutional."

In Albuquerque, U.S. District Court Chief Judge James A. Parker on October 11 granted summary judgment for city council candidate Sander Rue, declaring that city's limit on campaign spending by city council candidates was unconstitutional because the interests asserted by the city did not overcome the Supreme Court's holding in Buckley v. Valeo "that campaign expenditure limitations violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution." According to Mr. Bopp, who also represented Mr. Rue in the case, "this is a significant victory because the Court found that there were no genuine issues of material fact even though the city presented testimony from a dozen witnesses."

These developments marked a dual setback for the National Voting Rights Institute, based in Boston, which represented defendants in both cases, and which has mounted an extensive legal campaign to remove the First Amendment as a barrier to mandatory spending limits. Conversely, they provided a twin victory for the James Madison Center for Free Speech which led the representation of plaintiffs in both cases. The Vermont case is Landell v. Sorrell, the Albuquerque case is Rue v. City of Albuquerque.

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