Comment & Debate
Damon Root. “Activism in defense of free speech is no vice.” Reason Magazine. September 2, 2009: “There’s nothing sacrosanct about bad precedent or lousy legislation. In fact, it’s the Court’s basic responsibility to strike down those laws and precedents that run afoul of the Constitution—regardless of how long they’ve been on the books. Remember that the Court’s notorious ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld the racist doctrine of “separate but equal,” stood for nearly six decades before it was voided by Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Sometimes “the court’s own precedents” simply deserve to be nullified.”
Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission 5-4 Majority Ruling: “In this case we are asked to reconsider Austin and, in effect, McConnell. It has been noted that “Austin was a significant departure from ancient First Amendment principles,” Federal Election Comm’n v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U. S. 449, 490 (2007) (WRTL) (SCALIA, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). We agreewith that conclusion and hold that stare decisis does not compel the continued acceptance of Austin.”