AP– A U.S. judge has ruled that the campaign finance law banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional, saying that a recent Supreme Court decision gives companies the same right to donate as individual citizens enjoy.

In a ruling issued late Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris tossed out part of an indictment against two people charged with illegally reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton’s 2006 Senate and 2008 presidential campaigns.

Cacheris says that under the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision last year, corporations have the right to give to federal candidates.

The ruling from the federal judge in Virginia is the first of its kind. The Citizens United case had applied only to corporate spending on campaign activities by independent groups, such as ads run by third parties to favor one side, not to direct contributions to the candidates themselves.

Cacheris noted in his ruling that only one other court has addressed the issue in the wake of Citizens United ruling. A federal judge in Minnesota ruled the other way, allowing a state ban on corporate contributions to stand.

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© 2011 AP

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CBS NEWS – The CEOs of most S&P 500 companies raked in an average compensation of $11.4 million in 2010, amounting to a 23 percent pay raise over 2009, according to a new study from labor union coalition the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO compiled the data as part of its Executive Paywatch initiative, which aims to make information on executive compensation more transparent and to create more accountability. It shows that in 2010, the average S&P 500 CEO made 343 times more than an average worker in his company, compared with just 42 times more in 1980.

As the gap between CEO and worker compensation widens, the AFL-CIO is urging Washington to close corporate loopholes and stop the Republican-led effort to repeal parts of the Democratic Wall Street reform legislation.

“Today’s launch of 2011 Executive PayWatch shows just how out-of-whack things are,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters today. “Despite the collapse of the financial market at the hands of executives less than three years ago, the disparity between CEO and workers’ pay has continued to grow to levels that are simply stunning.”

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© 2011 CBS NEWS

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