Supreme Court's Gag Rule on Us

'The Powerful Have Only Gotten More Powerful'

Nat Hentoff
The Village Voice
January 23rd, 2004

In covering the Supreme Court's historic cutting down of the First Amendment right of individual Americans who belong to independent organizations to get their views expressed, the press has greatly underestimated the effect of the court's banning these groups' television and radio ads close to federal primaries and general elections.

The rule now is that these ads on social and political issues cannot be on the air within 30 days of a primary or 60 days before a general election. The law will be violated, says the Supreme Court, even if "advertisements do not urge the viewer [or listener] to vote for or against a candidate in so many words [but] they are no less clearly intended to influence the election."

--snip

"Beginning 30 days before the first primary or caucus . . . December 14, 2003 . . . Section 203 [of McCain-Feingold] will criminalize broadcast references to the President in a series of geographic blackouts that will continuously ripple through the Nation, blocking every broadcast outlet, wherever located, whose signal can reach 50,000 persons in an upcoming primary or caucus state until June 8, 2004.

"This blackout will become national in scope on July 31, 30 days before the August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention . . . and it will then continue without interruption throughout the remaining 60 days until the November 2 election. Thus, from July 31, 2004 until the election, it will be a crime for a union, corporation, or incorporated non-profit organization to pay to broadcast any 'reference' to the President by 'name,' 'photograph,' 'drawing' or other 'unambiguous' means anywhere in the United States."

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