Can Adam Schiff Really Overturn Citizens United With A Constitutional Amendment?
Adam Schiff Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman May 9, 2019
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has introduced a constitutional amendment to effectively undo the Supreme Court verdict in the Citizens United case, CNN reported.
In the 2010 Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to get rid of limits on election spending on communications, such as ads and flyers, by corporations, unions and other groups. Since the ruling, outside spending in elections has increased dramatically, from $131 million in the 2008 presidential election to $1.4 billion in 2016, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.
“Our democracy is not for sale. We must stop the flood of dark money from drowning out the voices of everyday citizens,” Schiff said in a statement.
It’s not clear how much Schiff is really interested in getting this amendment passed. Schiff is in the middle of the pitched battle between the House of Representatives and the White House to get the unredacted report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and recently subpoenaed Attorney General Bill Barr for the report.
But about three-fourths of Americans would like to see Citizens United abolished by a constitutional, according to a study from The Center for Public Integrity, including two-thirds of Republicans.
The constitution was last amended in 1992, to only allow raises in Representatives’ salaries to take place at the outset of the following term after which they were increased.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
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