Flutterby™! : The high price of free speech 2011-05-19 23:53:23.491306+02

The high price of free speech

2011-05-19 23:53:23.491306+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments

Stephen Colbert's Free Speech Problem: The comedian runs up against campaign-finance law in an attempt to lampoon the Supreme Court.

Campaign-finance laws are so complicated that few can navigate them successfully and speak during elections—which is what the First Amendment is supposed to protect. As the Supreme Court noted in Citizens United, federal laws have created "71 distinct entities" that "are subject to different rules for 33 different types of political speech." The FEC has adopted 568 pages of regulations and thousands of pages of explanations and opinions on what the laws mean. "Legalese" doesn't begin to describe this mess.

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