The Supreme Court today handed down its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In this case the Supreme Court overrules longstanding precedent and gives corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign advertisements. Here is a link to the decision on the Cornell website. The Supreme Court site seems to be overwhelmed. I will summarize the decision in a later posting.
Previous post: Supreme Court Expands Free Speech Rights of Legal Fiction
Next post: It's all politics now.
2009-2010 Supreme Court Term: (6) Citizens United v. F.E.C.
Previous post: Supreme Court Expands Free Speech Rights of Legal Fiction
Next post: It's all politics now.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
After years of half-hearted, self-interested and ineffectual attempts at campaign reform by our legislators – now this. My visceral feeling is that my vote will count for little, other than to make me feel as though I have discharged my civic duty. Like the Mass. vote this past Tuesday, I think this decision will be a game changer – and not for the better.
Your vote will have the exact same weight as it's always had. So will the votes of all the other citizens.
- Snap out of it Steve!
Our votes become even more important now because we must learn to avoid the media hype and continue to rely on solid personal research to make our choices. The real civic duty (IMO) lies in us having the intestinal fortitude to stand and vocally support 'our' candidates/issues with rational arguments and true facts. I hope that each of us, in our own immediate spheres of social influence, can affect more votes than last minute media sensationalism on the eve of an election. I think the really hard part of the new game will be finding candidates who are willing and 'clean' enough to withstand the onslaught of mud and untruths that will be unleashed on them by organizations that oppose them.