Political Money_ After the Washington Earthquake

(February 18, 2010 at Case Western Reserve University)

A Discussion Featuring
Jonathan Adler, Professor of Law; Jonathan Entin Professor of Law and Political Science; and Justin Buchler, Assistant Professor of Political Science
February 18, 2009, 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Case Western Reserve University

The Supreme Courts January 21 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission overturned two important precedents about the role of corporations in political campaigns. In the New York Times summary, The 5- to- 4 decision was a vindication, the majority said, of the First Amendments most basic free speech principle that the government has no business regulating political speech. The dissenters said that allowing corporate money to flood the political marketplace would corrupt democracy.

The ruling represented a sharp doctrinal shift, and it will have major political and practical consequences. Specialists in campaign finance law said they expected the decision to change the way elections were conducted.

What was the logic of the decision, what will be the effects, and what might be done to limit those effects? Two eminent scholars of constitutional law will join an expert in campaign finance to explore what happens next.

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News & Politics

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