Letter: Political speech is at the heart of the First Amendment

IJ Attorney Diana Simpson has a great letter to the editor in today’s Orlando Sentinel:

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy’s assertions about Citizens United v. FEC are high on rhetoric but miss the mark (The Front Burner: “Court ruling drowned politics in dark money,” Orlando Sentinel, Friday).

Political speech is at the heart of the First Amendment. Citizens United recognized everyone, not just a select few, should be entitled to speak. This includes Chevron, but also entities like the Sierra Club that were forbidden from running their own political advertisements shortly before elections prior to Citizens United.

The money spent on elections is designed to persuade voters about the most important issues of the day. The fact that the 2012 federal election was the most expensive in history must be considered in context: Americans spent more money on yogurt last year than they did on the whole of the 2012 election, which is nothing to be afraid of, except perhaps for the lactose intolerant.

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