The same day the law was signed, Senator Mitch McConnell and the National Rifle Association filed lawsuits challenging the law's constitutionality. Other parties quickly joined suit and the final court case, McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (540 U.S. [__] 2003; 124 S. Ct. 619), involved 11 separate lawsuits and more than 80 plaintiffs, ranging from the Republican national party and California Democratic party to the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association.
The case was heard by a three-judge District Court panel on an expedited schedule and then went directly to the Supreme Court on appeal because of the need to resolve quickly the constitutional challenge to the newly enacted campaign finance regime. The case was decided by the three-judge panel on May 1, 2003, in a split 1,600-page decision, but upon immediate appeal to the Supreme Court, the District Court stayed its decision so that the law could remain intact until the matter was resolved by the Supreme Court.
During the district court proceedings, the Federal Election Commission, charged with implementing and enforcing the new law, had eight months to write regulations to implement it. After the FEC issued these regulations, BCRA's congressional sponsors challenged more than a dozen of them as inconsistent with the law. That challenge, Shays v. FEC, is currently before the United States District Court.
The Supreme Court decided to hear the McConnell litigation before the start of its fall 2003 term to allow the parties four hours of oral argument—four times the normal amount of time before the Court. On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court issued its decision and upheld virtually all provisions of the law (see Excerpts from the Supreme Court's Decision in McConnell. v. FEC).
