Litigation

Poll: Voters Oppose Citizens United Ruling

By Peter Hardin

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has displeased many voters, who opposed it by a two-to-one margin in a national, bipartisan poll, according to an article by Politico.

The poll commissioned by Common Cause, Change Congress and Public Campaign Action Fund found that 64 percent of those voters surveyed opposed the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling last month, compared to 27 percent who approved.

The high court declared that corporations cannot be barred from spending on election campaigns. The five justices in the majority were nominated by Republican presidents. Nonetheless,  about 51 percent of Republicans told pollsters they opposed the decision, while 37 percent supported it.

Politico reporter Jeanne Cummings wrote that the poll “suggests that the ruling has reinforced voters? sense of disconnect with Washington and fueled the frustration that boiled to the surface in last year?s tea party protests and in elections in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts.”

Citizens United continues to provide the departure point for a wealth of varying analyses, whether political, legal, or jurisprudential. One of the latest commentaries is by James Copland in the Wall Street Journal, headlined “How the Plaintiffs Bar Bought the Senate.”

A panel discussion at the Heritage Foundation’s on the decision’s practical impact and potential outcomes is summarized by SCOTUSblog. The panel featured former members of the Federal Election Commission and/or campaign law specialists.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 09, 2010 (boomark / email).