Breyer writes in clear English. His arguments (signed with Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan) are as informed and articulate a defense of campaign finance laws as you will find. It’s better and more efficient to read his words, than to read about them, imho. For the non-lawyers/scholars, just skip over the legal references, detailed case arcana, and anything else that isn’t obvious — you’ll still get the basic ideas.
If we arm ourselves verbally, we can help push back against the madness wrought by the Roberts/Scalia/Thomas/Alito/Kennedy court. These 5-4 decisions may well be overturned in the future — as has happened in the past with bigger majorities. Teaching ourselves, our children, and our friends and foes alike, will help bring that day closer.
The following are selections from Breyer’s dissent, which begins on page 52 (of 94) in the Supreme Court’s PDF file (after Roberts’ majority opinion). Breyer writes:
It was indeed another sad day for the cause of getting money out of politics when the majority voted to only increase it.
LikeLike
The destruction of democracy in slow motion.
LikeLike