Justice Stevens Earns Puff Piece for Dissent in Citizens United

In its glowing tribute to Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, The New York Times is strangely detached from any First Amendment concerns.  There is nothing wrong in principle with calling attention to the legal career of a long-serving Supreme Court justice who is obviously preparing to step down. The coverage of Justice Antonin Scalia’s retirement, looking out over the next 10 years or so, is probably already written. TimesCheck will be sure to file this puff piece away for purposes of comp...

First Amendment Freedoms Too Burdensome for States?

First Amendment freedoms can be burdensome and pesky, provided they are not being used to advance a rationale in favor of undermining national security, according to a Jan. 22 New York Times article. The same newspaper that had no qualms about reporting on the details of CIA detention centers in the aftermath of 9/11 is now concerned about the fallout to certain states from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the government ban on corporate and union political spending.  “The states tha...