IRA STOLL: A big victory for free speech.

Meanwhile, an interesting passage from Clarence Thomas’s partial dissent, regarding disclosure requirements for donors:

The success of such intimidation tactics has apparently spawned a cottage industry that uses forcibly disclosed donor information to pre-empt citizens’ exercise of their First Amendment rights…..

I cannot endorse a view of the First Amendment that subjects citizens of this Nation to death threats, ruined
careers, damaged or defaced property, or pre-emptive and threatening warning letters as the price for engaging in “core political speech, the ‘primary object of First Amendment protection.’ ”

The witchhunts continue to ramify. Meanwhile, President Obama wants legislation to undercut the opinion. Good luck with that.

Anyway, this is nothing new. We’ve already seen citizens subjected to barrages of political opinion and electioneering from corporations that use their stockholder money to advance political positions held by management without regard to good business judgment. You know, corporations like The New York Times. More on that here.