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June 25, 2007
A victory for free speach
In a 5-4 decision over Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, the US Supreme Court limited the power of congress to control campaign finance. Before there had been substantial limits on issue ads that citizens could buy in the period of a few months before an election. The court has now held that "Discussion of issues cannot be suppressed simply because the issues also may be pertinent in an election. Where the First Amendment is implicated, the tie goes to the speaker, not the censor."
As long as the government is powerful and wields a huge purse, people will spend great sums to influence its behavior. All we do with these elaborate restrictions on speech is setup a society where only those with foot soldiers (parishioners, union members, members of ethnic groups) or influence (knowing the right people, owning a newspaper) can really influence American politics. At least now, with whatever problems we may have with our system, if you care enough to spend your own money you can punch way outside your weight in political influence. All this ruling says is that now groups of people can do the same thing.
Thanks to NY Times article Justices Loosen Restrictions on Election Ads for the tipoff.
Posted by OneEyedMan at June 25, 2007 12:48 PM
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