Gavel Grab

There continues to be a flood of opinion and analysis on Citizens United. Here are just a few examples:

• For rival analyses by experts, there is Jan Witold Baran’s “Stampede Toward Democracy” in the New York Times and Thomas E. Mann’s commentary published by McClatchy, “Citizens United vs. FEC is an egregious exercise of judicial activism.”
• On corporate political spending versus union spending in a new political era, there are articles by The Nation and by Fox News.
• To read about the impact in individual states, try the Rapid City Journal in South Dakota, MinnPost.com from Minnesota, our friends at JudgesonMerit.org in Pennsylvania, and Progress Illinois.

In Georgia, the Daily Report contacted experts including the Justice at Stake Campaign and concluded the decision would have little impact there; Georgia law permits corporate independent expenditures in judicial and other elections.

“I think if people in Georgia say this won’t make it even worse, they should also be aware that things aren’t so great right now,” JAS spokesman Charles Hall told the Daily Report, which is based in Atlanta.