Many voters don’t seem to realize that the most important but less visible issue of both the senatorial and presidential elections is who is to appoint the next justices of the Supreme Court.
It was the Roberts, Scalia court majority that wrote the Citizens United decision in 2010, which decreed that corporations should have the same rights as U.S. individuals, and thus are entitled to make unlimited financial contributions to election campaigns under guise of “free speech.”
The ruling, by a tight 5-4 majority across strict party lines, has permitted increasing amounts of cash to flood into our politics, most of it from large corporations and billionaires that give more to Republicans than Democrats.
This monetary infusion has increasingly placed Democratic candidates at a disadvantage, but all political candidates have been more or less been influenced by corrupting money. The only way to reduce the influence of money is for the court to repeal its Citizens United decision.
The conservative advantage on the court would be increased after a Trump victory, but most likely be prevented if Clinton wins. Therefore, regardless of our reservations about Hillary, it is vital that we back her if we desire to restore a liberal majority to the Supreme Court. Thus protest votes for anyone except Clinton are a most dangerous way to express our opinion.
George Levinger
Amherst