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Why Overturning Citizens United Isnt Enough
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_overturning_citizens_united_isnt_eno
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Posted on Oct 22, 2016
By Adam Eichen / Moyers &
Company(http://billmoyers.com/story/overturning-citizens-united-isnt-enough/
)
Pictures of Money(https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures-of-money/) /
(CC-BY-2.0)(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Amidst all the other headline-grabbing pronouncements in Wednesday nights
debate, Hillary Clinton mentioned the importance of overturning Citizens
United. While this is encouraging, focusing on Citizens United is not
enough; our campaign finance system was broken well before 2010. If Clinton
is serious about reducing the role of money in politics, she should appoint
Supreme Court justices willing to revisit Buckley v.
Valeo(https://www.oyez.org/cases/1975/75-436) , a 1976 decision that said
(among other things) third parties could spend unlimited amounts to
influence the outcome of an election, and First National Bank of Boston v.
Bellotti(https://www.oyez.org/cases/1977/76-1172) , a decision two years
later that struck down state attempts to limit corporate spending to affect
ballot initiatives. Those cases formed the basis for our inability to
regulate money in politics.
Moreover, altering Supreme Court case law is not enough. To ensure fair
elections it is essential to pass public financing of congressional
elections, create independent redistricting commissions, and reduce lobbyist
influence over public policy.
In their discussion of the Supreme Court, both candidates also failed to
mention Shelby County v. Holder(https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/12-96)
(2013), the case that gutted the Voting Rights Act arguably the most
important piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. Since this
disastrous decision, states across the country have passed anti-democratic
measures that mandate voter IDs, enact draconian voter registration
requirements(https://www.thenation.com/article/texass-voter-registration-law
s-are-straight-out-of-the-jim-crow-playbook/) , reduce early voting, and
eliminate preregistration for minors (among other measures). The next
president must address this democratic crisis.
As Ari Berman
argues(http://billmoyers.com/story/election-rigged-not-democrats/) , the
election is rigged, but not in the way proclaimed by Trump. The Republican
nominee continues to lambaste the virtually non-existent voter fraud (an
occurrence less likely than being struck by lightning), while millions of
Americans will be forced to sit out this election due to voter
disenfranchisement.
Electoral integrity is a serious matter. The United States has a long way to
go to ensure a fully functioning representative democracy. Yet, refusing to
concede an election on fallacious grounds, as Trump did last night, is
beyond inappropriate. As law professor Rick Hasen
wrote(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87772) , Our democracy is a fragile
thing which depends upon accepting the rules of the game.
Democracy is a living form of government, evolving over time and requiring
constant vigilance to ensure proper representation; undermining the entire
process, however, is childish and dangerous.
Adam Eichen is a member of the Democracy Matters Board of Directors and a
Fellow at the Small Planet Institute,(http://smallplanet.org/) where he is
working on a book on the Democracy Movement with founder Frances Moore
Lappé. He served as the deputy communications director for Democracy Spring.
Follow him on Twitter: @eichendoit(https://twitter.com/eichendoit) .
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