The Principled and Pure Court?

[kristopher]

The Principled and Pure Court? A Reply to Glenn Greenwald
by Lawrence Lessig

Salon's Glenn Greenwald is just about the most persistent and effective critic of money in politics today. He is among the least starry-eyed reporters studying Congress. But his essay defending the Court's judgment in Citizens United would have been better had he sprinkled a bit of the skepticism he has for Congress on the words penned by the Court. For the story of the First Amendment in the Supreme Court's hands is not quite as pretty as Greenwald would tell it.

The First Amendment, Greenwald tells us, is an absolute. It applies not to "persons"; it "simply bans Congress from making any laws abridging freedom of speech." This law plainly banned these entities -- whether persons or not -- from a freedom of speech. Ergo, this law is, and should have been found to be, unconstitutional.

Sounds good. Sounds principled. Sounds refreshingly different from anything else that happens within the reach of DC (i.e., good and principled).

But apply that same test to the following (not so hypothetical) free speech case: A bunch of doctors practice in family planning clinics. The government issues a rule that says certain doctors in certain clinics are not allowed to discuss abortion as a method of family planning. They can talk about abstinence. Or condoms. But they are not allowed to advise their pregnant patients that they have the liberty to abort their fetus.

Sounds like -- under the First Amendment Greenwald describes -- a simple case. Whether or not ...


This great read is continued at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-lessig/a-principled-and-pure-fir_b_439082.html

[ddeclue]

1. Republicans only believe in freedom of speech for ideas they agree with.