Citizens United and Dred Scott

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2013/02/citizens-united-and-dred-scott

The Boston Globe has an opinion column by Farah Stockman that more or less defends a Democratic congressman who is running for Senate, Ed Markey, for his ridiculous comment likening the Supreme Court's First Amendment decision Citizens United to an earlier Supreme Court's infamous decision enslaving Dred Scott. She writes:

does Markey have a point as well? The clumsiness of the comparison overshadowed his broader argument: The Supreme Court sometimes issues rulings that subvert democracy, and when that happens, we can't let them stand.

If anything would have subverted democracy, it would have been letting stand the campaign finance rules that Citizens United overturned. Among other things, the rules prevented Americans from buying television commercials criticizing politicians. Ms. Stockman's logic, that Supreme Court rulings "that subvert democracy" must be resisted, was the same logic that led segregationist Southern governors to resist the court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Ms. Stockman's column is no less clumsy than Mr. Markey's comment.

by Editor  |  Feb 26, 2013 at 9:17 am Related Topics:  Campaign Finance receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list