Keith Devens .com

Courts without law

Lawlessness usually conjures up images of a wild frontier or mobs in the streets. But the painful reality is that the supreme examples of lawlessness in our times are in the august and sedate chambers of the Supreme Court of the United States.

If you think the issue in the recent Supreme Court decision upholding campaign finance legislation is whether campaign finance reform is a good idea or a bad idea, then you have already surrendered the far more important and more fundamental idea of Constitutional government.

There is nothing in the Constitution of the United States which authorizes Congress to regulate what is said by whom, or under what conditions, in a political campaign. On the contrary, the Constitution says plainly, "Congress shall make no law" -- no law! -- "abridging the freedom of speech."

The merits or demerits of this particular law, restricting what you can say when, or how much money you can contribute to get your message out, are all beside the point. Just what part of "no law" don't the Supreme Court justices understand?

Indeed.

Also, Bad day for the First Amendment:

As for the bad part of this decision, it's not just bad but awful. For the first time, Americans have been told that they may not voice a political opinion over the airwaves within 30 days of an election - just when, of course, they may most need to, and should want to.

The clearest thinker on what is otherwise a pretty mush-minded court, Antonin J. Scalia, pointed out that this decision "cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government."

the First Amendment may never be the same. To quote Justice and Prophet Scalia again, "We have witnessed merely the second scene of Act I of what promises to be a lengthy tragedy."

Scalia, again, is one of the best judges on the court.

Read the other articles Howard links to as well. Weblogs are fantastic. Thanks Howard.