The Supreme "Kangaroo" Court And Free Speech

In a 5-4 decision, the Court loosened restrictions on corporate and union funded television ads that air close to elections, "weakening a key provision of a landmark campaign finance law." The court "upheld an appeals court ruling that an anti-abortion group should have been allowed to air ads during the final two months before the 2004 elections." [Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right-to-Life]. The ruling was defended by Chief Justice John Roberts, who claimed that, "the First Amendment requires us to err on the side of protecting political speech rather than suppressing it."

The Court since Bush v. Gore has become an embarrassment to the whole judicial process. It is now a forum for right wing and corporate political agendas. The idea that corporations need free speech goes counter to previous decisions concerning individual rights under the Bill Of Rights. Corporations are not living beings that are entitled to the rights of real people. They are artificial entities that are chartered in each state. And the Court has recognized this in previous decisions.

The Supreme Court has held that Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination extend only to "natural persons."

In HALE v. HENKEL decided in 1906 the Supreme Court ruled in part:

" While an individual may lawfully refuse to answer incriminating questions unless protected by an immunity statute, it does not follow that a corporation, vested with special privileges and franchises, may refuse to show its hand when charged with an abuse of such privileges."

Individuals hold sacred the right against self-incrimination, which is at least as important as the right of free speech. The U.S. Justice Department has enforced this legal precedent for over 100 years. Somehow, in the political world, the Supreme Court saw fit to provide a non living being that cannot talk with 1st Amendment protection while denying them 5th Amendment protection. That kind of legal thinking is just patently absurd and constitutes intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy.

The Supreme Court has in fact become a Gestapo court with no shame or even the appearance of objectivity. The massive conflicts of interest by the political hacks on the Court cannot be challenged. The Court has become the last nail in the coffin of our republic.