Federal judge throws out part of Illinois campaign finance law

BY DAVE MCKINNEY Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief 

SPRINGFIELD — A federal judge Tuesday struck down two pieces of a 2009 Illinois law designed to cap campaign contributions, a ruling one government watchdog said will “open the door to a risk of corruption.”

U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen sided with Personal PAC, the abortion-rights group that argued the state campaign-finance law violated its free-speech protections in the U.S. Constitution.

The state provisions that were challenged limited individual contributions at $10,000 to political-action committees that raise and spend money independently of candidates and barred any individuals or groups from maintaining more than one PAC.