Breyer on Citizens United: “The alternative is to choke the voices off from the people who don’t have money.”

April 5th, 2011

The AP has a story about Justice Breyer’s talk in Little Rock about his new book. The only interesting bit was this passage about Citizens United and Snyder v. Phelps:

During his speech, an audience member asked Breyer about a court ruling last year that removed most limits on election spending by corporations and labor. Breyer opposed the decision, which split the court’s liberal and conservative judges on a 5-4 vote, and said certain limits were needed to protect the rights of voters.

“The alternative is to choke the voices off from the people who don’t have money,” he said.

He also briefly addressed the court’s recent 8-1 decision in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, which has held provocative protests at hundreds of military funerals over the opposition of the slain soldiers’ families. Breyer, who sided with the majority, said the rights of mourning families needed to be balanced with the Constitutional right to free speech.

The rest of the article lists his standard talking points.