Just six days after hearing oral arguments, the new Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court this week handed down a unanimous though unsigned ruling in a major campaign finance case from 2003, Wisconsin Right to Life v the Federal Election Commission.In their opinion, the Court ordered the three-judge Federal District Court to consider the merits of the plaintiff group, which argued that their right to petition the government had been violated when a grass-roots campaign ad they wanted to run violated the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.  McCain-Feingold prohibits ads within 60 days of an election if one of the candidates is mentioned. 
The ruling, which came as a surprise to court watchers and those on both sides of the campaign finance debate, could invite a rehearing by a very different Supreme Court. The 2003 decision followed the 4-4 with Sandra Day O'Connor breaking the deadlock. 
Always the best on the court: Linda Greenhouse's story can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/politics/politicsspecial1/24donate.html

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