In Case You Missed It! Media Coverage of the Free Speech Index

March 29, 2018   •  By IFS Staff
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“Fox & Friends”

On Tuesday, Institute for Free Speech President David Keating appeared on “Fox & Friends” to promote IFS’ recently released Free Speech Index. The Free Speech Index ranks all fifty states based on how restrictive their political giving laws are. Keating offered this summary of the goals of the Index:

“The big problem with these laws is it makes it more difficult for new ideas to get injected into state capitals, makes it difficult for new candidates to emerge. And that’s why we wanted to put a spotlight on this.”

Click here to view the whole video.

The Wall Street Journal‘s Editorial Board also highlighted the Free Speech Index on Monday:

“America’s media are obsessed with Washington, but in our federal system much of the law-writing takes place in the 50 states. This is one reason to welcome a new index detailing how well each state protects the First Amendment right to engage in political speech.”

“The results confound the normal blue-red divide. The top five finishers, all with a 100% score, are: Alabama, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah and Virginia. All “permit individuals, political parties, and PACs to contribute unlimited sums to the candidates, parties, and causes of their choice,” and ditto for unions and corporations. This should be a clue that allowing people to donate money in politics is not a fast lane to rule by Republicans.”

“The index notes that 17 states have raised or repealed contribution limits since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, and the trend toward freedom of speech is encouraging. Yet one of the central contributions of the Free Speech Index is to gather disparate data that can inform further academic study and debate in state legislatures.”

Click here to read the whole editorial.

 

IFS Staff

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