{"id":243368,"date":"2010-01-28T18:16:40","date_gmt":"2010-01-28T23:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010921130_corporationsfreespeechrights.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-01-28T18:16:40","modified_gmt":"2010-01-28T23:16:40","slug":"corporations-free-speech-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/243368","title":{"rendered":"Corporations’ free speech rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Amendment guarantees it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Sunday editorial omits to state some important points to be considered [\u201cCorporations don\u2019t need a louder voice,\u201d Opinion, Jan. 24].<\/p>\n

The First Amendment strictly limits the power of government: \u201cCongress shall make no law \u2026 abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.\u201d There is nothing in the First Amendment \u2014 or anything else in the Constitution \u2014 that empowers Congress to abridge the speech of corporations. Indeed, the greatest First Amendment decision of the 20th century, NY Times v. Sullivan, protected a corporation.<\/p>\n

Think about it: Books, movies, television and radio are all publications of corporations and other legal associations. If you were to limit the protection of the First Amendment to individuals, it would protect only those who speak on street corners and those who can afford to publish their own books \u2014 oh yes, it would also protect individuals who burn flags and dance nude.<\/p>\n

The core of the First Amendment is free speech on public issues. The First Amendment preserves our right to hear and read speech on public issues from all sources \u2014 without restriction from the government. It is the essence of a free democracy that government has no power to censor speech on public issues.<\/p>\n

I was disappointed that four justices thought Congress does have the power to impose prior restraints on the publication of books and movies whose subjects are public issues. The great \u2014 and liberal \u2014 Warren Court would never have sanctioned such censorship.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Josh Basson, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Press not the only opinionator<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read your editorial \u201cCorporations don\u2019t need a louder voice\u201d with amusement. I have read a number of such diatribes in the press since the Supreme Court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

It seems the press does not want to have any competition when it comes to expressing a point of view. The Constitution allows freedom of speech as well as freedom of the press. It will be no more painful to listen to a corporate point of view than it is to read and listen to the slanted views that I am subjugated to from a \u201cliberal\u201d press and media, which speak with an obvious agenda and bias.<\/p>\n

Who granted you the right to be the only opinion expressed when it comes to elections? Could corporate ads of opinion be any worse than the 527 group ads we all endured during the last election? Are your biases and motives any purer than other corporations\u2019?<\/p>\n

In essence your editorials and many of your stories are no more than another \u201cpolitical ad.\u201d It is better to hear all points of view than to limit such expression to the press and media.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Egge, Woodinville<\/em><\/p>\n

Equal speech rights with equal money<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that the Supreme Court has gotten so wrapped up in the technicalities of constitutional law that it can no longer effectively judge the true reach of its decisions.<\/p>\n

Let me get this straight: If campaign money cannot be restricted because that would restrict \u201cspeech,\u201d the court has definitively decided that money equals speech. Since that is now the legal precedent, the court should have likewise ruled that you cannot have equal speech without equal money \u2014 i.e., equal protection under the law.<\/p>\n

I eagerly await my cashier\u2019s check so that I can have the same \u201cfree speech\u201d as the megabuck political donors. Is this a great country, or what?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Wingard-Phillips, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a laughing matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court got it right: Corporations are persons in the legal sense. Personally I like the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court allowing unlimited financing of political campaigns by corporations. That is because there is not enough comedy on television these days.<\/p>\n

Nothing is more entertaining than politicians spending money and going after an opponent with all the lies, deceit and smear he\/she can muster up. The more the better.<\/p>\n

Now, after the court\u2019s decision, corporations can gain a greater portion of the liar\u2019s paradise we call a campaign. The only thing funnier than politicians and corporations \u201cgoing after each other\u201d during an expensive election-campaign are the people who vote \u2014 and yes that includes me.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bob McQuade, Kent<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First Amendment guarantees it Your Sunday editorial omits to state some important points to be considered [\u201cCorporations don\u2019t need a louder voice,\u201d Opinion, Jan. 24]. The First Amendment strictly limits the power of government: \u201cCongress shall make no law \u2026 abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.\u201d There is nothing in the First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2861,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}