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New case may fix Citizens United mistake
The U.S. Supreme Court has a chance now to fix the enormous mistake it made in the Citizens United decision. A Montana case challenging that Supreme Court decision has just been appealed back to the court (American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock).
The Citizens United case, crazily, said corporations have a “free speech” right to spend unlimited sums of money influencing our elections, as if corporations were people. They aren’t. Free speech is for people, not corporations. Every major presidential candidate now has a Citizens United-enabled super PAC that allows corporations and the ultra-rich to spend limitless sums, anonymously, to buy our elections. Some 94 precent of elections are won by the candidate who spends the most money. That’s not an election, that’s an auction.
The Supreme Court has just been handed an opportunity to fix this mess. It should take it.
Bill Slankard
Arlington Heights
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