Michael McConnell: In Defense of Citizens United

Michael McConnell, professor at Stanford Law School and former judge on the 10th Circuit, has a fascinating paper forthcoming in the Yale Law Journal defending the Supreme Court’s Citizen United campaign finance decision.  According to its abstract:

Citizens United v. FEC is one of the most reviled decisions of the Supreme Court in recent years. The President of the United States denounced it to the Justices’ faces at his 2011 State of the Union address. His 2008 opponent, John McCain, called it “the worst decision ever.” The Democratic Party is pledged to reverse it by constitutional amendment if necessary. Prominent newspapers attribute to it virtually every excess of the campaign finance system, whether or not the practices were authorized by the decision or would have been lawful even without it. It has become shorthand for corporate domination of politics. It has few defenders among legal scholars. I believe it is time for a more balanced evaluation. 

He argues that:

. . . long-established principles of the First Amendment – and particularly freedom of the press – strongly support the conclusion that the organization called Citizens United had the constitutional right to prepare and disseminate a documentary critical of a public official and candidate, even during the election season. There is no serious doubt that some corporations – media corporations – have a constitutional right under the Press Clause to editorialize about candidates while the voters are making up their minds.