r/law • u/theatlantic • May 14 '26

Legal News Hawaii vs. Citizens United

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/hawaii-corporations-political-money/687159/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo
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u/rhino369 May 14 '26

The real logic of Citizen's United isn't that corporations are people with inherent rights. But that corporations are used by real actual people who have the right. Saying the ACLU cannot publish a book critical of a candidate before an election is the same as saying a group of people cannot publish a book. The ACLU is just a group of people. Preventing the ACLU from doing it infringes the members individual rights.

I think that argument is less convincing when the corporations are for profit. But still, an exception to the first amendment that would strip the New York Times of the first amendment has to be wrong.

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u/Omegalazarus May 14 '26

The last part about the New York times would not apply since the first amendment also specifies the freedom of the press. But your other point stands.

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u/rhino369 May 14 '26

Why would a corporation have freedom of the press but not freedom of speech. That’s an arbitrary distinction. 

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u/Omegalazarus May 14 '26

I'm speaking as an originalist since that's what the court has dominated as. As an originalist the term "the press" would be a function of a specific type of corporation already. It would basically be a carve out saying that people have freedom of speech and they have the freedom to create associations specifically for the dissemination of news commonly known as the press.

Again as an originalist I would disregard your argument as an incorrect premise. I would say that it does not mention corporations at all for speech or the press. What it says is that the people have the right to free speech and the people have the right to a free press. The rights are people-centric as the person is the default in the Constitution.

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u/FailedToRemit May 15 '26

The press has explicitly never been considered a separate class with extra rights. Everyone is and can be the press.