Supreme Court to weigh in on political movie

WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after its debut, “Hillary: The Movie” faces nine of the nation’s toughest critics: the Supreme Court.

The justices’ review of the slashing documentary financed by longtime critics of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton could bring more than just a thumbs up or thumbs down. It may settle the question of whether the government can regulate a politically charged film as a campaign ad.

David Bossie, a former Republican congressional aide who produced the Clinton movie and another describing then-Sen. Barack Obama as an overhyped media darling, said his films are about important moments in American politics.

“The outcome of this case will dictate how we’re able to make films and educate people about them,” he said.

At issue in the case being argued by justices Tuesday are the 90-minute anti-Clinton movie and television ads Bossie wanted to air during the 2008 primaries advertising the film.

Bossie’s group, the conservative Citizens United, released the movie as Clinton, then a New York senator, was competing with Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The movie is unquestionably anti-Clinton, featuring commentary from conservative pundits, some of whom specifically say Clinton was not fit to be commander in chief.

One scene, which was used in an ad, has Dick Morris, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton who is now a critic of the Clintons, saying the senator is “the closest thing we have in America to a European socialist.”

The movie was shown in eight theaters. Bossie’s group wanted to run ads on television in key election states during peak primary season and show the movie on cable television’s video-on-demand.

Federal courts said the ads would violate the McCain-Feingold law, the popular name for 2002 revisions to the nation’s campaign- finance laws. Judges called “Hillary: The Movie” a 90-minute attack ad, rulings that would require Citizens United to identify the financial backers for the ads if they were to appear on television.

The court also said that if Bossie’s group showed the moving on cable television, financial backers would have to be identified and the group would have to pay the cost of airing the movie.

Citizens United appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that “Hillary: The Movie” should not be considered a political ad. The group says there is nothing in the movie urging people to vote against Clinton. The group says the film is more of a documentary comparable to critical television news programs such as “Frontline,” “Nova” and “60 Minutes.”

“The fact that ‘Hillary’ presents a critical assessment of Sen. Clinton’s political background, character and fitness for office does not convert the movie ... into an appeal to vote against Sen. Clinton,” said Theodore Olson, Citizens United’s lawyer.