Dateline: 03/28/02

President Bush called it "flawed" when he signed it and only hours later, the Campaign Finance Reform law found itself in court, accused of being unconstitutional.

The law's main congressional opponent, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and the National Rifle Association (NRA) filed separate suits Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging that the law violated the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause.

The law bans national political parties from soliciting, accepting or spending "soft-money" -- previously unregulated money contributed by corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals, and prohibits certain types of political advertising during the last two months before any national election.

"Today, I filed suit to defend the First Amendment right of all Americans to be able to fully participate in the political process," said McConnell in a press conference. "I look forward to being joined by a strong group of plaintiffs in the very near future."

McConnell also announced that his legal team would be led by Kenneth Starr who, as independent counsel, investigated President Clinton right into impeachment in 1998. (Clinton won acquittal  in the Senate and remained in office.) Joining Starr will be Floyd Abrams, another lawyer known for presidential pursuits after taking on the Nixon White House over freedom of speech issues.

As a major contributor to national political campaigns, the NRA felt it had been unfairly singled out by the law. "We are proud to be the first plaintiff to formally ask the federal court to invalidate these new limits on political speech of ordinary citizens because we believe this law cannot be allowed to stand... not even for a moment." said NRA vice president Wayne Lapierre in a press statement.

Senators who supported the law in Congress promised to fight for it in court. Sens. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin), who sponsored the bill and fought for it during through seven years of debate, were joined by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) and Marty Meehan (D-Massachusetts) in stating, "We're confident the landmark campaign finance reform bill will stand up to any constitutional challenge in court."

Lawyers arguing that the law does meet constitutional muster will be Clinton-era solicitor general Seth Waxman and Burt Neuborne, legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School.

Under a provision of the Campaign Finance Reform law, the decision of the District Court -- no matter what it is -- will be automatically and immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The law never received strong support from President Bush, who said that while he found it "far from perfect," felt it "will improve the current financing system for federal campaigns."