Ep. 26 Putting money where your mouth is: campaign finance and free speech

From Buckley v. Valeo (1976) to Citizens United v. FEC (2010),
legal disputes over the constitutionality of campaign finance
laws have captured the general public’s attention for decades.


At the heart of the debate is a question of whether money donated
to political candidates or spent influencing elections is speech
protected by the First Amendment. And, if it is, are there
countervailing interests outweighing those core First Amendment
interests?


Even within the free speech community, the debate can be
contentious. But for our guest on today’s episode of So to Speak,
the issue is straightforward: money spent in support of a
political message is speech.


Sam Gedge is an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a
national public-interest law firm that puts its money where its
mouth is, regularly challenging campaign finance restrictions in
court.


In this podcast, Gedge presents the basics of campaign finance
regulation and makes his case for why money spent on politics
deserves full First Amendment protection.


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