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Money is not Speech : The Volokh Conspiracy Calls the Legal & Political Community to Order on US Supreme Court Corporate Free Speech Decision

By Andis Kaulins

(reposted due to an initial glitch at Blogger)

Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy writes:

"The problem with restrictions on independent spending on campaign speech ? a problem recognized by Justices Brennan and Marshall and not just by today?s conservatives (though Brennan and Marshall would have allowed more such restrictions than today?s conservatives do) ? isn?t that money is speech. It?s that restricting the use of money to speak, like restricting the use of air travel or computers to speak, interferes with people?s ability to speak. One can debate whether this interference is justified. But mocking the pro-constitutional-protection position as resting on the notion that ?money is speech? strikes me as quite mistaken."

We agree.

The entire purpose of the restrictions on corporate political speech - which now have been rightly struck down - was in fact precisely and intentionally to restrict the exercise of free speech by certain groups of people, acting in association. That may be seen by many to be a laudable motive - but most certainly not one foreseen by the U.S. Constitution, nor is there - to our knowledge - any probative empirical evidence that restricting corporate free speech has helped the country in any quantifiably identifiable way, or - conversely - that permitting corporate free speech will harm the country in any quantifiably identifiable way, but that too, of course, is also not a Constitutional test.

As for those who fear a "corruption" of American democracy by corporate campaign spending, it must be noted that the corruption laws remain unchanged and that it is as illegal to buy a vote today as it was yesterday - and yet votes are bought every day - in one way or another, without ever a penny directly changing hands. Some candidates campaign under the slogan that taxes will be increased, while others campaign under the slogan that taxes will be decreased, and many voters take the lure on both sides of the political lake.

Full post as published by LawPundit on January 24, 2010 (boomark / email).