It's Time to Stand Up To the Supreme Court

摘要

In January the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws limiting corporate political contributions were a violation of constitutional free speech principles. "The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves," wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in his 5-4 majority opinion, which is sure to unleash a flood of corporate spending on ads for and against political candidates. But public companies aren't people. As Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the minority, observed, the court committed a grave error in treating corporate speech the same as that of human beings. The notion that the same freedoms should apply when a public company, often with tens of thousands of owners, speaks in matters beyond the scope of its business affairs offends common sense.