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Advocacy Blog
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
WRTL Editorial in LA Times
This LA Times editorial asserts that the Supreme Court should rule that the group Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) was deprived of their free speech rights after being prohibited from airing certain ads before the 2004 election. The editorial suggests that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. may change the 2003 Supreme Court decision that upheld the ban on electioneering communications ban, giving political speech "breathing room."
An advertisement praising or criticizing a politician — even one seeking reelection — has more in common with the endorsement editorials that appear on this page than it does with the campaign contributions (in hard or soft dollars) that have received only minimal 1st Amendment protection from the courts. The "bright line" that needs to be drawn is the one between financing someone else's message and articulating your own.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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