There have been several letters submitted to the Lake County Record-Bee newspaper promoting actions to amend our U.S. Constitution and overturn the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
In the Supreme Court decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy and the majority of the Court upheld some of this nation”s most important founding principles; the right to engage in free speech ? particularly political speech ? and the right to freely associate.
The court rejected the idea that government can decide who gets to speak. The government cannot impose restrictions on certain disfavored speakers, such as corporations.
The First Amendment stands against attempts to distinguish among different speakers.
The fact that some speakers may have more wealth than others does not diminish their First Amendment rights. To change the Constitution in order for the government to decide to whom First Amendment rights apply is frightening.
As a citizen, it is your duty to fully research issues, especially those which sound all warm and fuzzy or appear to be a no-brainer. There are much larger issues at risk with this movement; read, research, learn and beware the simple answer.
Jaxan Christensen
Upper Lake
