Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Citizens United Was The Current Supreme Court's Worst Ruling

[kpete]

"I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be," she said.


Ginsburg said that the Court, in CItizens United as well as in the case of Shelby County, "should have respected the legislative judgment."

"Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does. ... I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed."

According to Ginsburg, things may have played out differently had Justice Sandra Day O'Connor not retired so soon. She told The New Republic that O'Connor would have sided with the minority on Citizens United, Shelby County, as well as the Court's Hobby Lobby ruling.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/28/ruth-bader-ginsburg-citizens-united_n_5897760.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. When money is free speech then bribes are merely speaking in a loud voice. nt

[yeoman6987]

2. I though she said Holly Lobby some time back

[EEO]

3. Like choosing between scorpions in a bottle, really.

[EEO]

4. Well said.

[closeupready]

7. People here are going to think you're being sarcastic, but in fact,

that really is - in my opinion - where that decision leads, no humor in it.

Because when a prior ruling holds that corporations are, in fact, people, and we have people like Mitt Romney saying just that, then it's an ominous sign of where things lead when these rulings get it wrong.

[Wella]

5. Recommended

/

[FlatStanley]

6. We should always call it the Roberts Court so that his name

becomes synonymous with judicial malfeasance.

[calimary]

9. And idiocy too! He's the guy who fucked up the Presidential Oath of Office!

Couldn't even get it right when he had more than two months to practice. HAD to fuck up the soundbite of the oath-taking of the first Black American President. First African American President of the United States. And roberts fucked up the soundbite. Couldn't get the oath straight and botched it - so definitively that they had to do the damn thing over!

Just galls me to NO end! No. As a retired broadcast journalist, I WON'T get over that! That priceless, historic, epic soundbite - that WILL be among the soundbites used in EVERY retrospective and historical review from now on - including eventual retrospectives on the entire 21st CENTURY - is RUINED. FOREVER. Thanks, roberts. You idiot ASS. And the "president" you rode in on.

[FlatStanley]

11. Small men shrink before history.

Roberts is a very small man.

And you're right. That historic moment will be forever tarnished. I never really considered that until you pointed it out.

[calimary]

8. Hard to beat bush v Gore, but she's got an awfully strong argument there.

[JHB]

14. I think that's why the "current court" qualifier was used

There's been some turnover since 2000 (not nearly enough, though).

[Ampersand Unicode]

18. Vacco v. Quill (1997) wasn't this court, but still a bad decision.

At least if that one had gone differently, we who will ultimately suffer under the impending Fourth Reich would have had a chance to get out from under it.

[mr_liberal]

10. Ginsburg should retire. eom

[elias7]

13. mr_liberal?

You should explain yourself. Your "eom" silliness ended your bizarre message prematurely. Are you seeking to push the court even further to the right?

[eggplant]

16. Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahaha.

Ha.

[Rex]

12. No the courts worst ruling was over the 2000 selection.

Everything else is due to cascade failure.

[SunSeeker]

20. +1

[Enthusiast]

15. She is so correct on this.

This supreme court appears to be bent on the destruction of this nation. Maybe they don't recognize that corporate rule would be a bad thing. If they do not recognize this they are fucking idiots.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. That is saying alot given the Bush v. Gore fiasco.

I mean, when you write down the list of bad Supreme Court decisions, selecting a president for the nation has to be giving the top choice some competition.

[SunSeeker]

19. But the Bush v. Gore ruling was the most damaging to the nation.

It is what installed the idiot that brought us the Iraq War, and appointed the Supreme Court justice that made Citizens United possible--an opening created when Sandra Day O'Connor resigned. I will never forgive Sandra Day O'Connor for siding with the majority in Bush v. Gore, then letting Bush replace her with an even more conservative justice. If she had stayed on, she probably would have been the swing vote against Citizen United. The fact that O'Connor now appears to have regrets about it just pisses me off even more.

[The Magistrate]

21. Hell, Ma'am: It Is Right Up There With Dredd Scott