In this short essay, Institute for Free Speech Chairman and Co-Founder and Capital University Law School Professor Bradley A. Smith argues that academic efforts to fit campaign finance restrictions within the rubric of the First Amendment have distorted First Amendment doctrine and contributed to a decline in respect for free speech generally.
Written as part of a symposium on “Free Speech Under Fire” at Brooklyn Law School, Smith’s essay briefly reviews and critiques recent scholarship by Robert Post (“Citizens Divided”), Richard Hasen (“Plutocrats United”), Larry Lessig, and Zephyr Teachout.
