June, 29 2010, 02:50pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Drew Courtney or Josh Glasstetter,Phone: 202-467-4999,Email:,media@pfaw.org
Sessions Equates Citizens United with Brown v. Board
Talking Points Memo has reported
an exchange in which Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the
Senate
Judiciary Committee, defended the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC by
comparing it to
the decision to desegregate American schools in Brown v. Board of Education.
Michael B. Keegan, President of People For
the American Way,
responded:
WASHINGTON
Talking Points Memo has reported
an exchange in which Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the
Senate
Judiciary Committee, defended the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC by
comparing it to
the decision to desegregate American schools in Brown v. Board of Education.
Michael B. Keegan, President of People For
the American Way,
responded:
"Sen. Sessions has compared Citizens United with Brown
v. Board on judicial and moral grounds--both ridiculous
claims.
While Brown v. Board
ended the
systematic segregation of American schools, Citizens
United ended restrictions on how much money corporations
could spend
on elections. These are not equivalent injustices; in fact, one is not
an
injustice at all.
"The inane comparison to Citizens United aside, I'm happy
that Sessions agrees
with the decision in Brown v. Board.
It would now be appropriate for him to stop attacking Thurgood
Marshall--whose leadership in Brown
cemented his status as a civil rights hero--and the philosophy of
constitutional interpretation that led to the landmark verdict."
People For the American Way works to build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. We fight against right-wing extremism and the injustice it fosters.
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