Citizens United: First Amendment Protection or Pandora's Box?

Congress and state legislatures have been enacting campaign finance regulations for more than 100 years, and the courts have largely gone along. But the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United invalidated on First Amendment grounds the key rationale justifying much of this regulation — upending most of it.
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Citizens United: A Conversation with Bob Bauer '76 and Trevor Potter '82

UVA Lawyer first interviewed Bob Bauer and Trevor Potter in 2009 about their experiences as general counsel for the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns, respectively. With the 2012 campaign afoot, we asked them to discuss the Citizens United decision. MORE
 

Citizens United Vindicates Fundamental First Amendment Principles

UVA Law Professor Emeritus Lillian BeVier argues that Citizens United preserves the freedom to discuss public issues and debate the qualifications of candidates during campaigns for public office. MORE

Some Answers from a Constitutional Perspective

Virginia Law Professor Ted White says Citizens United's overruling of Austin follows the doctrinal shelf-life of the Supreme Court's constitutional law decisions, which tend to average about twenty years. But it may be premature to label the decision "historic."
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The Supreme Court's Shift Away from Protecting Voters to Promoting Free Expression

Professor Dan Ortiz argues the U.S. Supreme Court has largely abandoned the idea of protecting individual voters' rights in favor of creating a structure that promotes free expression. MORE