News Release

December 10, 2003

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Cato Expert: 'A Sad Day For Freedom of Speech'

WASHINGTON--After today's Supreme Court decision upholding key portions of the new campaign finance law, Cato Institute scholar John Samples made the following comments:

"Today is a sad day for freedom of speech and political activity. In the past, the Supreme Court has enforced real, though imperfect, limits on the power of Congress to regulate political speech.

"Far from protecting political freedom, a slim majority of the Court has now expanded the power of Congress to regulate and to harass individuals and groups who criticize incumbents. The question remains whether the Court in the future will enforce any constitutional protections for the funding of political activity challenging the Congressional status quo."

Samples is among the Cato specialists available for further comment on all aspects of the ruling.

Samples, director of Cato's Center for Representative government, is the author of "The Failures of Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Campaigns" and "Government Financing of Campaigns: Public Choice and Public Values."

Patrick Basham is a senior fellow in the Center for Representative Government and the author of "This Is Reform? Predicting the Impact of the New Campaign Financing Regulations" and "It's the Spending, Stupid! Understanding Campaign Finance in the Big-Government Era."

Robert A. Levy is a senior fellow in constitutional studies and co-editor of the Cato Supreme Court Review.