The topic of #CitizensUnited came up, and since I pulled up this quote, I’ll share it here.
There has been SO MUCH misinformation about what CU actually said, so I always encourage people to read it directly, especially since Kennedy writes with a certain artistry.
Here’s one quote that I always find to capture the essence of its reasoning, showing that it’s all based on individuals associating, not so much corporations:
“[The rich always have access] yet certain disfavored associations of citizens—those that have taken on the corporate [or union] form—are penalized for engaging in the same political speech.
“When Government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought. This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves.”
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep558/usrep558310/usrep558310.pdf
@volkris
Thanks for this. I hadn't understood this subtlety of #CitizensUnited or why the logic is so flawed.
The argument that gov regulation of speech (eg certain political messages at certain times in certain forums) is fundamentally blocking that speech entirely is just wrong. To then extend this fallacy to thought control, shows just how partisan the logic was.
The CU premise that any non-human entity has the right to completely unrestricted 1A freedom of speech is abhorrent.
You’ve misunderstood the argument, as it is not what you’ve framed and then criticized here.
You’re fighting a strawman.
@volkris
Please clarify. What did I miss?
Your quote was "...certain disfavored associations of citizens—those that have taken on the corporate [or union] form—are penalized...". From that I simplified that certain nonhuman entities have certain restrictions in certain scenarios.
@volkris
You then quote "“When Government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought. This is unlawful"
From this, I simplified to those limited restrictions being a ban on that info...and thought control.
Admittedly, I simplified. But what did I mischaracterize?
Don’t overlook the first half of the quotation that really emphasizes how government proposed to put up roadblocks to people trying trying to engage in the same speech that rich and powerful had either way..
It emphasizes that this wasn’t about censorship of ideas but of individuals, which is squarely aimed at the administration’s position that it would block speech based on the identity of the speaker.
The CU decision also emphatically and explicitly rejected the idea of completely unrestricted 1A freedom of speech. In the ruling the Court upheld restrictions!
@volkris
Thanks for the detail
But I'm pretty sure it wasn't Obama admin's position that the ban was by identity.