Civitas Action

First, a few words from Justice Paul Newby's sponsor:

Whereas candidates and their committees can accept only $5,000 from individual donors in an election year12 and cannot receive moneys from corporations, unions, or associations, super PACs can accept money from any type of donor (corporation, union, or private individual) without any limit on the amount donated and can spend that money without limit to promote the election or defeat of specific candidates.

That's excerpted from a Federalist Society's white paper, in which the author expends much effort trying to convince the reader that huge campaign expenditures by super PACs are actually a good thing, since it helps educate us idiots better:

The Republican takeover of North Carolina's state legislature in 2010 -- the first time since Reconstruction -- caught many by surprise, but perhaps none more than state senator John Snow. A three-term Democrat in the senate's western-most district in the mountains, Snow largely avoided controversy and often bucked his party; one group rated him as the state's second-most conservative senate Democrat. What's more, his Republican opponent Jim Davis -- a dentist and newcomer to state politics -- seemed like a long shot.