Corporate contribution ban left intact by US Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court left intact Iowa’s ban on corporate political donations, as the justices declined a chance to extend last week’s ruling striking down federal contribution limits.

The justices today rejected an appeal by Iowa Right to Life Committee Inc., a nonprofit corporation that said the state measure violates its rights to free speech and equal protection.

The law bars campaign contributions by both for-profit and nonprofit corporations, as well as banks, savings and loans, credit unions and insurance companies. A St. Louis-based federal appeals court upheld the measure last year.

The Supreme Court had been holding the group’s appeal while it resolved the challenge to the federal contribution caps.