By Autumn Labbé-Renault
This piece was originally published in The Davis Enterprise (http:davisenterprise.net) on Jan. 29, 2010. In an interesting note, I have been writing this monthly column since Feb. 1996--14 years!
In conversation with community media colleagues from a seven-state region last week, a hot topic was the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Jan. 21 in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf). Free speech advocates all, we took issue with the decision that equates corporate-financed campaign speech as protected, and wipes out over 100 years of laws designed to curb corporate influence on state and national elections.