Reach-across-the-aisle Republicrat John McCain may get his knuckles rapped soon. In an unusual move, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to re-hear arguments against government imposed restrictions on free speech put into effect by the McCain-Feingold law. One of its provision denies corporations the right to issue “electioneering communications” or television and radio ads within 30 day of a primary election or 60 days before a general election.
The issue centers around the documentary film “Hillary: The Movie,” which chronicled the seamy legal and political career of our current Secretary of State. The Federal Elections Commission ordered the film pulled from circulations during the last election cycle– including its DVD sale or pay-per-view screening over cable television networks.
According to the New York Times:
At the first Supreme Court argument in March, a government lawyer, answering a hypothetical question, said the government could also make it a crime to distribute books advocating the election or defeat of political candidates so long as they were paid for by corporations and not their political action committees.
That position seemed to astound several of the more conservative justices, and there were gasps in the courtroom.
“That’s pretty incredible,” said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
The discussion of book banning may have helped prompt the request for re-argument. In addition, some of the broader issues implicated by the case were only glancingly discussed in the first round of briefs, and some justices may have felt reluctant to take a major step without fuller consideration.
Sen. McCain decided that corporations, which are victims of high taxes and regulations, were not entitled to First Amendment freedoms to campaign against politicians that wish to empty a company’s pockets for government giveaways.
This may be the high court’s chance to overturn free speech restrictions that view some Americans as less equal than others.
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