PUBPOL 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Campaign Finance Reform In The United States, Anthony Kennedy
Document Summary
Campaign finance policy as sing by the supremes. First amendment says that congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech. It specifically identifies the government as the potentially dangerous party. You don"t want the state to abridge the rights of free speech. Chilling effect is like a ban on certain kinds of speech, ways in which the government violates free speech rights. There are examples where they don"t ban the speech, but they chill it, make the speaker think twice before speaking. In the citizens united case, justice kennedy discusses a concern for the chilling effect. Chilling effect refers to a phenomenon where individuals or groups refrain from engaging in expression for fear of running afoul of a law or regulation. Chilling effects generally occur when a law is either too broad or too vague. Individuals steer far clear from the reaches or the law for fear of retaliation, prosecution, or punitive governmental action.
