SUPREME COURT: CASH GIVEN TO CONGRESS MEMBERS FOR THEIR VOTE NOT BRIBERY, BUT FREE SPEECH

by R J Shulman

WASHINGTON – (PTSD News Service) – In a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote held that giving money to an elected official to “buy” their vote is protected by the Constitution.  Justice Roberts, writing for the majority said, “In Citizens United we determined that corporations are people who are protected by the First Amendment and that money equals free speech.  In the case at hand, Cole v. Bastrap we take the Citizens doctrine further by holding that giving cash to a lawmaker for a promised vote outcome is the same as simply talking to them and gets the highest Constitutional protection..”

The Cole ruling came as a complete surprise as the free speech argument was not made by either party in a case essentially about interstate water rights.

Justice Ginsberg, speaking for the minority said, “the majority decision has just sold the American democracy to the highest bidder.”  Roberts dismissed that argument by saying, “Nothing in the constitution says that all men are created with the equal amount of free speech and some just have a little more free speech available to them.”

Asked what the basis of his ruling was, Roberts said he was convinced of making the ruling due to a crap load of free speech that came his way.