U.S. Supreme Court strikes again

Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock actually had built a pretty good case in Montana’s defense of its Corrupt Practices Act of 1912 before the U. S. Supreme Court.

He really didn’t have to look very hard for his argument. There was ample evidence that corruption was largely caused by the influence of money in the election process. Elections were simply bought. Senators were paid cash to get a Montana industrialist elected to the U.S. Senate.

The wealthy who had already bought much of Montana in the early 20th century were tripping over each other to see who could dangle the most money in front of the appropriate parties to secure the state’s legislature and judiciary for their own purposes. It’s all documented in Montana’s archives and in countless books written on this state’s history — and in Bullock’s brief to the Supreme Court.

In the end, it made no difference. The Court didn’t want to hear it. Their ruling, in fact, came off as, “We don’t want to hear anymore about money in politics. Enough already.”

Eager to double down on their egregious Citizens United ruling, the five balloon heads who trip merrily, hand-in-hand through their own weed-infested patch of wacky legal opinions chose to not hear Bullock’s arguments. Instead, they simply issued another idiotic reinforcement of the original convoluted thinking that led to their Citizens United decision.

Their summary decision effectively restated the majority argument by Justice Anthony Kennedy in their Citizens United ruling. He erroneously stated, “We now conclude that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”

It’s not erroneous that five justices embraced that demonstrably faulty thinking, only that they wrote it into legal fact. The opinion of the fearless five was unsigned. Then, presumably, they shed their black robes and took the day off.

The only brief glimmer of light at this point in this long, dark journey, which will almost certainly continue into the foreseeable future until a constitutional amendment is ratified or rejected, is that the four justices who are impervious to corporate and right wing influences stayed on the rational side of the issue.

Speaking for the dissenters, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, “Moreover, even if I were to accept Citizens United, this Court’s legal conclusion should not bar the Montana Supreme Court’s finding, made on the record before it, that independent expenditures by corporations did in fact lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption in Montana.

“Given the history and political landscape in Montana, that court concluded that the State had a compelling interest in limiting independent expenditures by corporations. Thus, Montana’s experience, like considerable experience elsewhere since the Court’s decision in Citizens United, casts grave doubt on the Court’s supposition that independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do so.

“Were the matter up to me, I would vote to grant the petition for certiorari in order to reconsider Citizens United or, at least, its application in this case.”

It’s unlikely there was much shock, or even surprise, after this second major fumble by the Supremes on the same question. Once stated, their legal opinions assume the form of legal facts. And once legal facts, these five towers of solid granite are unlikely to question their own conclusions. There seems to be no room for reinterpretation in their world. They are, after all, supreme.

Hold on to your gaiters, grandpa. These folks are appointed for life or until they give up those black robes. We’re in for a long, arduous haul.

The battle will continue. Montana and Missoula will be in the forefront. Stand With Montanans will qualify its I-166 measure for the November ballot, giving this state’s people an opportunity to weigh in on money equals speech, corporations equals people, and the influence of big money on electoral politics.

Missoula Moves to Amend, now affiliated with the national Move to Amend movement, will continue to educate and inform folks on progress toward passage of a constitutional amendment through Congress and on to the states for ratification. And Fred Wertheimer, perhaps the most notable citizen activist working to remove money from politics, has pledged that his Democracy 21 group will organize after the 2012 election for the long fight to remove corporate and other corrupting influences from elections.

In the meantime, we’ll all get a good look this year, and in all future election cycles, at the wreckage lying in the wake of decisions made by this Supreme Court.

Those of us involved in cleaning up this wreckage can use all the help we can get. If you’re even slightly inflamed over the Supreme Court’s perverse habit of heaping dishonor on their own traditions and practices, and you’d like to join us in reclaiming our country’s democratic principles, all of which start and end with fair and corruption-free elections, send a message to wrwilde44@msn.com. Say, “I’m in!”

There’s a place for you. There’s a place for everyone who believes elections should not be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Bruce Midgett is a member of Missoula Moves to Amend.