Justice Breyer: Montana Case Shows Citizens United Was Wrong

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from TPM: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/dissent-justice-breyer-montana-case-shows-citizens-united-was-wrong.php


The Supreme Court sided with a conservative group on Monday to invalidate a Montana law restricting corporate spending on elections that had been on the books for 100 years, saying it clearly conflicted with their ruling in Citizens United.

But in a dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer argued that Montana’s history of corruption is a sign of what’s to come thanks to the Supreme Court’s determination that bans on corporate election spending violate free speech.

“Even if I were to accept Citizens United, this Court’s legal conclusion should not bar the Montana Su­preme Court’s finding, made on the record before it, that independent expenditures by corporations did in fact lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption in Montana,” Breyer wrote. “Given the history and political landscape in Montana, that court concluded that the State had a compelling interest in limiting independent expenditures by corporations.”

Breyer wrote in a dissenting opinion that it would be a waste of time to listen to arguments on the case after Citizens United, given the conservative majority’s clear opinion, but he nonetheless indicated that the Montana decision foretold serious trouble for campaign finance.

“Montana’s experience, like considerable experience elsewhere since the Court’s decision in Citizens United, casts grave doubt on the Court’s supposition that independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do so,” Breyer wrote.

read: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/dissent-justice-breyer-montana-case-shows-citizens-united-was-wrong.php