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The consequences of having a right wing President are felt dramatically in the courts, as became painfully clear in June, 2007, when the right wing majority of the Supreme Court made a series of decisions that selectively devalued the First Amendment. In two of those decisions, the right wing justices on the Supreme Court decided that corporations have more of a right to free speech than high school students.

In one case, Morse et al. v. Frederick, dealing with the free speech rights of American high school students, Chief Justice John Roberts declared, “the constitutional rights of students in public school are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings.”

However, when it came to the idea of the free speech of corporations, Chief Justice Roberts had another standard, writing, “Where the First Amendment is implicated, the tie goes to the speaker, not the censor.”

Although he stated that the status of an American citizen as a student in a high school deprives them of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to free speech, Justice Roberts was unwilling to accept a similar restriction in the case of corporations. In his opinion on the second case, Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Incorporated, Justice Roberts wrote, “the corporate identity of a speaker does not strip corporations of all free speech rights.”

Justice Roberts worries little about the educational and civic impact of high schools that censor open speech on public issues. However, he quavers at the prospect of any censorship of corporations, quoting the majority opinion in the case Thornhill v. Alabama, “Freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period.” Apparently, Justice Roberts believes that it is more important that corporations be able to speak on “on all issues about which information is needed or appropriate” than it is for students to do so.

The progressive minority on the Supreme Court sees things differently. The progressive justices of the Supreme Court are concerned that a school environment in which students are not free to fully discuss ideas will result in a stunted, restricted education. One of the Supreme Court progressives, Justice Stevens, writes in his opinion on Morse et al. v. Frederick, “Even in high school, a rule that permits only one point of view to be expressed is less likely to produce correct answers than the open discussion of countervailing views.”

As we consider which candidate for President of the United States to support in 2008, we need to remember that the President has the power to appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts was appointed by President George W. Bush. If we elect another right wing President, the right wing hold on the Supreme Court will strengthen, and we will see even more extreme interpretations of the Constitution, holding that yet more categories of American citizens have fewer rights than American corporations.

(Sources: Slip Opinion, Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Incorporated; Slip Opinion, Morse et al. v. Frederick)