Former Justice Predicts Cracks in Citizens United Decision
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens took a poke at the controversial Citizens United decision Wednesday night and said his former colleagues have probably already had second thoughts about it.
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens speaks at a lecture presented by the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, May 30.
The 2010 decision paved the way for the SuperPACs to which wealthy individuals, corporations, and labor unions can give unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates. Stevens was among the justices who dissented in the court’s 5-4 ruling.
In remarks prepared for delivery at the University of Arkansas, Stevens predicted that the court will soon be forced to issue rulings that will undermine a key part of the Citizens United ruling — that the First Amendment “prohibits the suppression of political speech based on the speaker’s identity,” including the fact that the speaker is a corporation.
The court’s decision left undecided whether the same free speech right applies to foreign corporations. In due course, Stevens said, the court will be called upon to decide that question, forcing it to craft an exception “that will create a crack in the foundation of the Citizens United majority opinion.”