overview
CITIZENS UNITED
v. F.E.C., 2010
CritiCal EngagEmEnt QuEstion
Assess whether the Supreme Court ruled correctly in
Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010, in light of constitutional
principles including republican government and
freedom of speech.
lEarning objECtivEs
Students will:
• Understand the Founders’
reasons for affording
political speech the greatest
protection.
• Apply principles of republican
government and freedom
of speech to evaluate the
decision in Citizens United v.
F.E.C., 2010
matErials
Handout A: Agree or Disagree
Handout B: Citizens United v. F.E.C.,
2010, Background Essay
Handout C: Citizens United v. F.E.C.,
2010
gradE lEvEl and timE
Two 50-minute high school classes
standards
CCE (9-12): IIC2; IID3; IID5
NCHS: Era 3, Standard 3; Era 7,
Standard 1; Era 10, Standard 1
NCSS: Strands 2, 5, 6 and 10
Common Core (Grades 9-10):
9. Analyze seminal U.S.
documents of historical and
literarysignicance(e.g.,
Washington’s Farewell Address,
the Gettysburg Address,
Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms
speech, King’s “Letter from
Birmingham Jail”), including how
they address related themes and
concepts.
Common Core (Grades 11-12):
8. Delineate and evaluate the
reasoning in seminal U.S. texts,
including the application of
constitutional principles and use
oflegalreasoning(e.g.,inU.S.
Supreme Court majority opinions
and dissents) and the premises,
purposes, and arguments in
worksofpublicadvocacy(e.g.,
The Federalist, presidential
addresses).
9. Analyze seventeenth-,
eighteenth-, and nineteenth-
century foundational U.S.
documents of historical
andliterarysignicance
(includingTheDeclarationof
Independence, the Preamble
to the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, and Lincoln’s Second
Inaugural Address) for their
themes, purposes, and
rhetorical features.
During his 2010 State
of the Union address,
President Barack Obama
did something very few
presidents have done:
he openly challenged a
Supreme Court ruling in
front of both chambers of
Congress and members of
the Supreme Court of the
United States. That ruling,
Citizens United v. F.E.C.
(2010),andthePresident’s
commentary on it,
reignited passions on both
sides of a century-long
debate: to what extent
does the First Amendment
protect the variety of
ways Americans associate
with one another and
the diverse ways we
“speak, ” “assemble,” and
participate in American
political life? It is this
speech – political speech
– that the Founders knew
was inseparable from
the very concept of self-
government.
2
Why Does a Free Press Matter?
NOTES
LESSON PLAN
DAY I
Warm-up
15 minutes
Distribute Handout A: Agree or Disagree, and have students work
individually or with a partner to mark each statement. Reconvene as a large
group and share responses. You may wish to tell students that statements 1-3
contain actions which, according to the majority in Citizen United, would be
felonies had the BCRA provision at issue in the case not been struck down
by the ruling. Statements 4-6 are all from the majority opinion.
activity
25 minutes
Distribute Handout B: Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010, Background Essay and
have students read independently, or read aloud as a class.
Wrap-up
10 minutes
As a class, go over the critical thinking questions. Have students write
complete responses for homework.
DAY II
Warm-up
10 minutes
Asaclass,gooverdenitionsoftheconstitutionalprinciplesofrepublican
government and freedom of speech. Republican governments, also called
representative governments or mixed governments, are those where power
of government resides with the people or is lent to their representatives.
Freedom of speech is an example of a right the Founders believed was
inalienable and necessary for self-government.
activity
30 minutes
Distribute Handout C: Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010. Have students work
in pairs or trios to go over the documents and answer the scaffolding
questions. Depending on students’ reading levels and familiarity with
primary sources, you may wish to divide the documents among groups.
Wrap-up
10 minutes
Spend focused time on the majority opinion in Citizens v. United,
encouraging students to share their evaluations of the ruling, grounding
their answers in the Constitution. You may wish to reveal, if you did not do
so earlier, that the statements 1-3 on Handout A contained actions which,
according to the majority in Citizen United, would be felonies had the BCRA
provision at issue in the case not been struck down by the ruling. Statements
4-6 are all from the majority opinion.
Have students write their essay responses for homework or in class next time.
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A
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
Directions: Mark each statement with an “A” if you agree or a “D” if you disagree.
_______ 1. Government should be able to punish the Sierra Club if it were to run an ad
immediately before a general election, trying to convince voters to disapprove of a
Congressman who favors logging in national forests.
_______ 2. GovernmentshouldbeabletopunishtheNationalRieAssociationifitwereto
publish a book urging the public to vote for the challenger because the incumbent
U. S. Senator supports a handgun ban.
_______ 3. Government should be able to punish the American Civil Liberties Union if it creates
a website telling the public to vote for a presidential candidate in light of that
candidate’s defense of free speech.
_______ 4. “TheFirstAmendmentprotectsspeechandspeaker,andtheideasthatowfrom
each.”
_______ 5. “IftheFirstAmendmenthasanyforce,itprohibitsCongressfromningorjailing
citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.”
_______ 6. “When Government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to
command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source
he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought. This is unlawful. The First
Amendmentconrmsthefreedomtothinkforourselves.”
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
B
BACKGROUND ESSAY
Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
During his 2010 State of the Union address,
President Barack Obama did something very few
presidents have done: he openly challenged a
Supreme Court ruling in front of both chambers
of Congress and members of the Supreme
Court of the United States. That ruling, Citizens
United v. F.E.C.(2010),andthePresident’s
commentary on it, reignited passions on both
sides of a century-long debate: to what extent
does the First Amendment protect the variety
of ways Americans associate with one another
and the diverse ways we “speak,” “assemble,”
and participate in American political life? It is this
speech – political speech – that the Founders
knew was inseparable from the very concept of
self government.
Since the rise of modern “big business” in the
Industrial Age, Americans have expressed
concernsabouttheinuenceofcorporationsand
other “special interests” in our political system. In
1910 President Teddy Roosevelt called for laws
to “prohibit the use of corporate funds directly or
indirectly for political purposes…[as they supply]
one of the principal sources of corruption in our
political affairs.” Already having made such
corporate contributions illegal with the Tillman Act
of 1907, Roosevelt’s speech nonetheless prompted
Congress to amend this law to add enforcement
mechanisms with the 1910 Federal Corrupt
Practices Act. Future Congresses would enlarge
the sphere of “special interests” barred from direct
campaign contributions through – among others
-theHatchAct(1939),restrictingthepolitical
campaign activities of federal employees, and
theTaft-HartleyAct(1947),prohibitinglaborunions
from expenditures that supported or opposed
particular federal candidates.
Collectively, these laws formed the backbone of
America’scampaignnancelawsuntiltheywere
replaced by the Federal Elections Campaign
Acts(FECA)of1971and1974.FECAof1971
strengthened public reporting requirements of
campaignnancingforcandidates,political
partiesandpoliticalcommittees(PACs).TheFECA
of1974addedspeciclimitstotheamountof
money that could be donated to candidates by
individuals, political parties, and PACs, and also
what could be independently spent by people
who want to talk about candidates. It provided for
the creation of the Federal Election Commission,
an independent agency designed to monitor
campaigns and enforce the nation’s political
nancelaws.Signicantly,FECAleftmembers
of the media, including corporations, free to
comment about candidates without limitation,
even though such commentary involved spending
money and posed the same risk of quid pro quo
corruption as other independent spending.
In Buckley v. Valeo (1976), however, portions
of the FECA of 1974 were struck down by the
Supreme Court. The Court deemed that restricting
independent spending by individuals and groups
to support or defeat a candidate interfered
with speech protected by the First Amendment,
so long as those funds were independent of a
candidate or his/her campaign. Such restrictions,
the Court held, unconstitutionally interfered with
the speakers’ ability to convey their message
to as many people as possible. Limits on direct
campaign contributions, however, were
permissible and remained in place. The Court’s
rationale for protecting independent spending
was not, as is sometimes stated, that the Court
equated spending money with speech. Rather,
restrictions on spending money for the purpose
of engaging in political speech unconstitutionally
interfered with the First Amendment-protected
righttofreespeech.(TheCourtdidmentionthat
direct contributions to candidates could be seen
as symbolic expression, but concluded that they
were generally restrict-able despite that.)
The decades following Buckley would see a
great proliferation of campaign spending. By
2002, Congress felt pressure to address this
spending and passed the Bipartisan Campaign
FinanceReformAct(BCRA).Akeyprovision
of the BCRA was a ban on speech that was
deemed “electioneering communications”
– speech that named a federal candidate
within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days
of a general election that was paid for out of a
“specialinterest’s”generalfund(PACswereleft
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BACKGROUND ESSAY
Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
comprehension and critical thinking Questions
1. Summarizethewaysinwhichvariouscampaignnancelawshaverestrictedthepolitical
activities of groups, including corporations and unions.
2. What was the main idea of the ruling in Buckley v. Valeo?
3. What political activity did the group Citizens United engage in during the 2008 primary
election? How was this activity potentially illegal under the BCRA?
4. How did the Supreme Court rule in Citizens United v. F.E.C.? In what way is it connected to the
ruling in Buckley?
5. DoyoubelievethattheFirstAmendmentshouldprotectcollectivespeech(i.e.groups,including
“special interests”) to the same extent it protects individual speech? Why or why not?
6. What if the government set strict limits on people spending money to get the assistance of
counsel, or to educate their children, or to have abortions? Or what if the government banned
candidates from traveling in order to give speeches? Would these hypothetical laws be
unconstitutional under the reasoning the Court applied in Buckley and Citizens United? Why or
why not?
untouched by this prohibition). An immediate First
Amendment challenge to this provision – in light
of the precedent set in Buckley – was mounted in
McConnell v. F.E.C. (2003). But the Supreme Court
uphelditasarestrictionjustiedbytheneed
to prevent both “actual corruption…and the
appearance of corruption.”
Another constitutional challenge to the BRCA
would be mounted by the time of the next general
election.CitizensUnited,anonprotorganization,
was primarily funded by individual donations,
with relatively small amounts donated by for-
protcorporationsaswell.Intheheatofthe2008
primary season, Citizens United released a full-
lengthlmcriticalofthen-SenatorHillaryClinton
entitled Hillary: the Movie.Thelmwasoriginally
released in a limited number of theaters and on
DVD, but Citizens United wanted it broadcast to a
wider audience and approached a major cable
company to make it available through their “On-
Demand” service. The cable company agreed
and accepted a $1.2 million payment from Citizens
United in addition to purchased advertising time,
making it free for cable subscribers to view.
SincethelmnamedcandidateHillary
Clinton and its On-Demand showing would fall
within the 30-days-before-a-primary window,
Citizens United feared it would be deemed an
“electioneering communications” under the
BCRA. The group mounted a preemptive legal
challenge to this aspect of the law in late 2007,
arguing that the application of the provision
to Hillary was unconstitutional and violated the
First Amendment in their circumstance. A lower
federal court disagreed, and the case went to
the Supreme Court in early 2010.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in
Citizens United v. F.E.C. that: 1) the BCRA’s
“electioneering communications” provision did
indeed apply to Hillary and that 2) the law’s
ban on corporate and union independent
expenditures was unconstitutional under the First
Amendment’s speech clause. “Were the Court
to uphold these restrictions,” the Court reasoned,
“the Government could repress speech by
silencing certain voices at any of the various
points in the speech process.” Citizens United v.
F.E.C. extended the principle, set 34 years earlier
in Buckley, that restrictions on spending money
for the purpose of engaging in political speech
unconstitutionally burdened the right to free
speech protected by the First Amendment.
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
C
CITIZENS UNITED V. F.E.C., 2010
Directions: Read the Background Essay and Key Question. Then analyze Documents A-L. Finally, answer
the Key Question in a well-organized essay that incorporates your interpretations of Documents A-L, as
well as your own knowledge of history.
key Question
Assess whether the Supreme Court ruled correctly in Citizens
United v. F.E.C., 2010, in light of constitutional principles including
republican government and freedom of speech.
Document A: Federalist # 10, James Madison, 1787
Document B: Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787
Document C: The First Amendment, 1791
Document D: “The Bosses of the Senate,” Joseph Keppler, 1889
Document E: New Nationalism Speech, Teddy Roosevelt, 1910
Document F: Buckley v. Valeo, 1976
Document G: Citizens United Mission Statement, 1988
Document H: McConnell v. F.E.C., 2003
Document I: Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
Document J: Dissenting Opinion, Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
Document K: Concurring Opinion, Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
Document L: “Another Dam Breaks,” Matt Wuerker, 2010
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document a:
Federalist # 10
, James madison, 1787
By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority
of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest,
adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the
community.
There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the
other, by controlling its effects.
There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the
liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions,
the same passions, and the same interests.
Itcouldneverbemoretrulysaidthanoftherstremedy,thatitwasworsethanthedisease.
Libertyistofactionwhatairistore,analimentwithoutwhichitinstantlyexpires.Butitcouldnot
be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than
it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to
reitsdestructiveagency.
[Because] the causes of faction cannot be removed…relief is only to be sought in the means
of controlling its effects…If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the
republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote.
1. How does James Madison dene a faction?
2. What does Madison argue serves as a “check” on the inuence various factions may
have on society?
3. Would the Federalist Papers have been legal under the BCRA?
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
document B: thomas JeFFerson to edWard carrington, 1787
I am persuaded myself that the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best
army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves. The people are
the only censors of their governors: and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true
principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only
safeguard of the public liberty. ... The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people,
theveryrstobjectshouldbetokeepthatright;andwereitlefttometodecidewhetherwe
should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should
not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive
those papers and be capable of reading them….
If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies,
judges and governors shall all become wolves.
1. What does Jefferson believe is “the basis of our governments”?
2. What does Jefferson believe is “the only safeguard of the public liberty”?
3. What does Jefferson seem to believe is a possible disadvantage of press freedom? Why
does he nd it acceptable?
4. What does Jefferson predict will happen if the people become inattentive to public
affairs?
document c: the First amendment, 1791
Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
1. Why did the Founders deem speech and assembly so vital to self-government?
2. List a variety of ways you see Americans “speak” and “assemble” in political life.
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document d: “the Bosses oF the senate,” Joseph keppler, 1889
1. How does this cartoon express the concern of “quid pro quo” corruption?
2. What is the signicance of the closed door with the sign above it in the upper left hand
corner of the cartoon?
3. Did Madison’s assertion in Federalist 10 (Document A) – that the republican principle will
serve as a check on the inuence of factions – apply in the cartoon’s time period? Does it
apply today?
document e: neW nationalism speech, teddy roosevelt, 1910
[O]urgovernment,NationalandState,mustbefreedfromthesinisterinuenceorcontrolof
special interests. Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our political
integrity before the Civil War, so now the great special business interests too often control and
corruptthemenandmethodsofgovernmentfortheirownprot.Wemustdrivethespecial
interests out of politics. … [E]very special interest is entitled to justice, but not one is entitled
toavoteinCongress,toavoiceonthebench,ortorepresentationinanypublicofce.The
Constitution guarantees protection to property, and we must make that promise good. But it
does not give the right of suffrage to any corporation.
1. What does Roosevelt mean by “special interests”?
2. How does this concept relate to Madison’s denition of “faction”?
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
document F:
Buckley v. valeo
, 1976
Advocacyoftheelectionordefeatofcandidatesforfederalofceisnolessentitledto
protection under the First Amendment than the discussion of political policy generally or
advocacy of the passage or defeat of legislation...Discussion of public issues and debate on
thequalicationsofcandidatesareintegraltotheoperationofthesystemofgovernment
established by our Constitution. The First Amendment affords the broadest possible protection to
such political expression in order to assure unfettered exchange of ideas for the bringing about
of political and social changes desired by the people…A restriction on the amount of money
a person or group can spend on political communication during a campaign necessarily
reduces the quantity of expression by restricting the number of issues discussed, the depth of
their exploration, and the size of the audience reached. This is because virtually every means of
communicating ideas in today’s mass society requires the expenditure of money.
1. Restate this excerpt from the Buckley ruling in your own words.
document g: citizens united mission statement, 1988
Citizens United is an organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizens’ control.
Through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass roots organization, Citizens United
seeks to reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise,
strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens United’s goal is to restore the
founding fathers’ vision of a free nation, guided by the honesty, common sense, and good
will of its citizens…Citizens United has a variety of different projects that help it uniquely and
successfullyfulllitsmission.CitizensUnitediswellknownforproducinghigh-impact,sometimes
controversial,butalwaysfact-baseddocumentarieslledwithinterviewsofexpertsandleaders
intheirelds.
1. Do you believe James Madison would consider Citizens United a faction? Why or why
not?
2. Is Citizens United an “assembly” of people seeking to engage in political “speech?” Why
or why not?
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document h: maJority opinion,
mcconnell v. F.e.c.
, 2003
Because corporations can still fund electioneering communications with PAC money, it is ‘simply
wrong’ to view the [BCRA] provision as a ‘complete ban’ on expression…
We have repeatedly sustained legislation aimed at ‘the corrosive effects of immense
aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with the help of the corporate form’ …[T]he
government has a compelling interest in regulating advertisements that expressly advocate
theelectionordefeatofacandidateforfederalofce…corporationsandunionsmaynance
genuineissueadsduringthosetimeframesbysimplyavoidinganyspecicreferencetofederal
candidates, or…by paying for the ad from a segregated fund [PAC].
1. Restate the McConnell opinion in your own words.
2. In your opinion, is the McConnell ruling consistent with the ruling in Buckley (Document F)
in its interpretation of the First Amendment?
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
document i:
citizens united v. F.e.c.
, 2010
TheF.E.C.hasadopted568pagesofregulations,1,278pagesofexplanationsandjustications
for those regulations, and 1,771 advisory opinions since 1975. … given the complexity of the
regulations and the deference courts show to administrative determinations, a speaker who
wants to avoid threats of criminal liability and the heavy costs of defending against F.E.C.
enforcement must ask a governmental agency for prior permission to speak.
IftheFirstAmendmenthasanyforce,itprohibitsCongressfromningorjailingcitizens,or
associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech. All speakers, including individuals
and the media, use money amassed from the economic marketplace to fund their speech. The
First Amendment protects the resulting speech.
Atthefounding,speechwasopen,comprehensive,andvitaltosociety’sdenitionofitself;there
were no limits on the sources of speech and knowledge….By suppressing the speech of manifold
corporations,bothfor-protandnonprot,theGovernmentpreventstheirvoicesandviewpoints
from reaching the public and advising voters on which persons or entities are hostile to their interests.
Factions will necessarily form in our Republic, but the remedy of ‘destroying the liberty’ of some
factions is ‘worse than the disease’ [Federalist 10]. Factions should be checked by permitting them
all to speak, and by entrusting the people to judge what is true and what is false...
When Government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a
person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses
censorshiptocontrolthought.Thisisunlawful.TheFirstAmendmentconrmsthefreedomto
think for ourselves.
Theappearanceofinuenceoraccess,furthermore,willnotcausetheelectoratetolosefaith
inourdemocracy.Bydenition,anindependentexpenditureispoliticalspeechpresentedto
the electorate that is not coordinated with a candidate. The fact that a corporation, or any
other speaker, is willing to spend money to try to persuade voters presupposes that the people
havetheultimateinuenceoverelectedofcials.
Rapid changes in technology—and the creative dynamic inherent in the concept of free
expression—counsel against upholding a law that restricts political speech in certain media or
by certain speakers. Today, 30-second television ads may be the most effective way to convey
a political message. Soon, however, it may be that Internet sources … will provide citizens with
signicantinformationaboutpoliticalcandidatesandissues.Yet,[theBCRA]wouldseemtoban
a blog post expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate if that blog were created
with corporate funds. The First Amendment does not permit Congress to make these categorical
distinctions based on the corporate identity of the speaker and the content of the political speech.
1. Why does the Court say that current F.E.C. regulations results in citizens needing
“permission to speak”?
2. Why does the Court say that “The First Amendment conrms the freedom to think for
ourselves”?
3. The Court reasoned, “The appearance of inuence or access, furthermore, will not cause
the electorate to lose faith in our democracy.” Do you agree? What effect, if any, does
this ruling have on the republican principle of the United States government?
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Citizens United
document J: dissenting opinion,
citizens united v. F.e.c.
, 2010
[In] a variety of contexts, we have held that speech can be regulated differentially on account
of the speaker’s identity, when identity is understood in categorical or institutional terms. The
Government routinely places special restrictions on the speech rights of students, prisoners,
members of the Armed Forces, foreigners, and its own employees.
Unlike our colleagues, the Framers had little trouble distinguishing corporations from human
beings, and when they constitutionalized the right to free speech in the First Amendment, it was
the free speech of individual Americans that they had in mind. … [M]embers of the founding
generation held a cautious view of corporate power and a narrow view of corporate rights…
and…they conceptualized speech in individualistic terms. If no prominent Framer bothered to
articulate that corporate speech would have lesser status than individual speech, that may well
be because the contrary proposition—if not also the very notion of “corporate speech”—was
inconceivable.
On numerous occasions we have recognized Congress’s legitimate interest in preventing
themoneythatisspentonelectionsfromexertingan‘undueinuenceonanofceholder’s
judgment’andfromcreating‘theappearanceofsuchinuence.’Corruptionoperatesalong
a spectrum, and the majority’s apparent belief that quid pro quo arrangements can be neatly
demarcatedfromotherimproperinuencesdoesnotaccordwiththetheoryorrealityof
politics….A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws
are being bought and sold.
A regulation such as BCRA may affect the way in which individuals disseminate certain
messages through the corporate form, but it does not prevent anyone from speaking in his or
her own voice.
At bottom, the Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people,
who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since
the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate
electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that
common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court
wouldhavethoughtitsawsincludedadearthofcorporatemoneyinpolitics.
1. How does the reasoning in the dissenting opinion differ from that of the Majority
(Document I)?
2. How would you evaluate the dissenters statement, “A democracy cannot function
effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”
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Citizens United
© The Bill of Rights Institute
document k: concurring opinion, citizens united v. F.e.c., 2010
TheFramersdidn’tlikecorporations,thedissentconcludes,andthereforeitfollows(asnightthe
day) that corporations had no rights of free speech.
The lack of a textual exception for speech by corporations cannot be explained on the ground
that such organizations did not exist or did not speak. To the contrary…both corporations
and voluntary associations actively petitioned the Government and expressed their views in
newspapers and pamphlets. For example: An antislavery Quaker corporation petitioned the First
Congress, distributed pamphlets, and communicated through the press in 1790. The New York
Sons of Liberty sent a circular to colonies farther south in 1766. And the Society for the Relief and
Instruction of Poor Germans circulated a biweekly paper from 1755 to 1757.
The dissent says that when the Framers “constitutionalized the right to free speech in the First
Amendment, it was the free speech of individual Americans that they had in mind.” That is
no doubt true. All the provisions of the Bill of Rights set forth the rights of individual men and
women—not, for example, of trees or polar bears. But the individual person’s right to speak
includes the right to speak in association with other individual persons. Surely the dissent does
not believe that speech by the Republican Party or the Democratic Party can be censored
because it is not the speech of “an individual American.” It is the speech of many individual
Americans, who have associated in a common cause, giving the leadership of the party the
right to speak on their behalf. The association of individuals in a business corporation is no
different—or at least it cannot be denied the right to speak on the simplistic ground that it is not
“an individual American.”
1. Why does this Justice argue that the original understanding of the First Amendment does
not allow for limitations on the speech of associations such as corporations and unions?
Do you agree?
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
Citizens United
document l: “another dam Breaks,” matt Wuerker, 2010
1. What does the cartoonist predict will be the effect of the Citizens United ruling?
2. What assumptions does the cartoonist seem to make about voters? Are they valid
assumptions? Explain.
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Citizens United
© The Bill of Rights Institute
lesson ansWer key
Handout A: Agree or Disagree
1. Governments could place no restraints on
publication in advance.
2. The law did not impose a prior restraint. That is,
it did not prevent publication in advance.
3. The Court ruled that a broad claim of national
security did not justify a prior restraint under the
First Amendment. Accept reasoned answers.
4. The Court reasoned that free and open debate
abouttheconductofpublicofcialswasmore
important than occasional, honest factual errors
thatmighthurtordamageofcials’reputations.
Accept reasoned answers.
5. Accept reasoned answers.
Handout B: Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
Background Essay
1. The banning of direct campaign contributions
bycorporations(TillmanAct,1907),limitations
onactivitiesoffederalemployees(HatchAct,
1939), banning direct campaign contributions
bylaborunions(Taft-Hartley,1947),public
reporting requirements and dollar-amount
limitationsoncontributions(FECA,1971
& 1974), and a ban on “electioneering
communications” within a set time period prior
toelections(BCRA,2002).
2. The Court deemed that restricting independent
spending by individuals and groups to support
or defeat a candidate interfered with speech
protected by the First Amendment, so long as
those funds were independent of a candidate
or his/her campaign. Such restrictions, the
Court held, unconstitutionally interfered with
the speakers’ ability to convey their message
to as many people as possible.
3. CitizensUnited,anon-protgroupfunded
by donations, produced a feature-length
movie critical of presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton. The movie was to be shown
nationwide in select theaters and through a
major cable company’s On-Demand service.
It potentially ran afoul of the BCRA’s limitation
on “electioneering communications” within
30-days of a primary election or 60-days of a
general election, paid for by a corporation’s
general fund.
4. Citizens United v. F.E.C. extended the principle,
set 34 years earlier in Buckley, that restrictions
on spending money for the purpose of
engaging in political speech unconstitutionally
burdened the right to free speech protected
by the First Amendment.
5. Accept reasoned answers.
6. Using the same reasoning as the Court did in
Buckley, these laws would be unconstitutional.
They would be unconstitutional not because
“spending [on a lawyer] amounted to
[assistance of counsel] protected by the [Sixth]
Amendment,” or that “spending [on a private
education] amounted to [private education]
protected by the [Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment],” or that “spending
[on an abortion] amounted to [an abortion]
protected by the [Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment].” Rather, the reasoning
would be that banning such spending
unconstitutionally interfered with the rights
to assistance of counsel, private education,
or an abortion. Likewise, a government ban
on candidates from traveling in order to
give campaign speeches would likely be
unconstitutional because the ban on travel
unconstitutionally burdened the right to speak.
citizens united dBQ ansWer key
Document A: Federalist # 10, James Madison, 1787
1. According to Madison, a faction is a number
of citizens who are 1) united by a common
interest and 2) opposed to the rights of
others and/or the permanent interest of the
community.
2. ForMadison,onecheckontheinuenceof
factions is regular elections.
3. Accept reasoned answers.
Document B: Thomas Jefferson to Edward
Carrington, 1787
1. The opinion of the people
2. “The only safeguard of the public liberty” is, for
Jefferson, the ability of the people to speak
and publish their opinions on governmental
matters freely. Too much information is
preferable to too little.
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© The Bill of Rights Institute
Citizens United
3. A disadvantage to press freedom is that
the people may be led astray at times. This
possibility is acceptable to Jefferson because
he believes their good sense will win out, and
they will correct themselves. Also, for all the
faults that people are prey to, government
censorship would be more dangerous than
public error.
4. Those with power will “become wolves,” which
is to say they will oppress those without power.
Document C: The First Amendment, 1791
1. Accept reasoned answers.
2. Giving speeches, speaking persuasively
to friends or larger audiences, producing
creative works, writing for a newspaper or
other publication, keeping a blog, posting to
YouTube, Facebook, or other social media,
writing letters to the editor, attending political
rallies, meeting in clubs or other groups.
Document D: “The Bosses of the Senate,” Joseph
Keppler, 1889
1. “Quid pro quo” refers to a more or less equal
exchange. In the context of political discourse,
the term often suggests bribery. “Quid pro
quo” refers to an expectation that, if wealthy
contributors donate large sums of money to
a political campaign, the person receiving
thisbenetwill,onceelected,usehisorher
inuencetoprovidesomespecialbenetto
the donor.
2. The cartoonist believes that, through their
nancialsupportofcandidates,thebusiness
interests of the industrial age have seized
control of the Senate, and are the “bosses”
of the Senators. The concern of quid pro quo
corruption is indicated by the position and
size,relativetotheSenators,ofthegures
representing business interests.
3. The closed door leading to the public gallery
above the Senate reinforces the author’s
message that the government is no longer
open to “the people.”
4. Accept reasoned answers. Students may note
that in the cartoon’s time period, Senators
were appointed by state legislatures.
Document E: New Nationalism Speech, Teddy
Roosevelt, 1910
1. Business interests that seek to “control and
corrupt the men and methods of government
fortheirownprot.”
2. Roosevelt’s description of “special interests”
seems very similar to Madison’s concept of
“faction.”
Document F: Buckley v. Valeo, 1976
1. Speech about candidates deserves the same
First Amendment protection as other kinds
of political speech. Civil discourse on politics
is essential for self government. Engaging in
speech requires spending money. Therefore,
limits on spending by individuals and groups
unconstitutionally burden their ability to speak
freely. The First Amendment protects the ability
to speak for or against a candidate, and was
meant to ensure such speech could occur in a
variety of ways.
Document G: Citizens United Mission Statement, 1988
1. Probably not. While Citizens United is “a number
of citizens…united and actuated by some
common…interest,” its activities do not satisfy
thesecondpartofthedenitionoffaction:
“adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to
the permanent and aggregate interests of the
community.”
2. Accept reasoned answers.
Document H: McConnell v. F.E.C., 2003
1. Since the BCRA leaves PACs free to engage in
political speech, corporations and unions are
not limited in their ability to speak, they merely
must do so through their PACs.
2. Accept reasoned answers.
Document I: Citizens United v. F.E.C., 2010
1. The Court reasons that, because laws
governing “electioneering communications”
are so voluminous and complicated, the
presumption has become that speech is illegal,
rather than free.
2. Citizens can and must judge for themselves
which voices they will listen to.
3. Accept reasoned answers.
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Citizens United
© The Bill of Rights Institute
Document J: Dissenting Opinion, Citizens United v.
F.E.C., 2010
1. The dissent argues that the right to free speech
was designed to protect an individual’s right to
speak, and was never understood to apply to
corporations, which are business associations,
not political ones. The notion of “corporate
speech” was foreign to the Founders, and
the First Amendment doesn’t protect it at the
same level. Congress has a legitimate interest
inprotectingagainst“undueinuence”
and corruption, and the vast resources of
corporations – in comparison to individuals –
makesthis“undueinuence”morelikely.The
BCRA’s ban may regulate how a person, or
persons, may speak, but it does not prevent
anyone from speaking “in his own voice.”
2. Accept reasoned answers.
Document K: Concurring Opinion, Citizens United v.
F.E.C., 2010
1. This dissenting justice argues that corporations
existed at the time of the Founding. They
not only engaged in speech and petitioned
the government, but were understood
by the authors of the First Amendment to
have speech rights equivalent to individual
Americans. Further, the First Amendment does
not allow restrictions to be made on the basis
of who is speaking.
Document L: “Another Dam Breaks,” Matt Wuerker,
2010
1. The cartoonist believes the Supreme Court’s
ruling in Citizens United has “broken the dam”
holding back union and corporate money from
overwhelming American voters with political
speech. The resulting wave of “special interest”
moneythreatenstodrowntheinuenceand
voices of individual voting Americans.
2. Accept reasoned answers.
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