Barr Applauds Supreme Court for Defending First Amendment by Rejecting McCain Campaign Finance Restriction

“Although public attention yesterday focused on the gun control case in Heller, the Supreme Court made another critically important ruling on behalf of liberty,” notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. In Davis v. Federal Election Commission, the Court overturned the so-called “Millionaire’s Amendment,” which penalized wealthy candidates who spend their own money when seeking office.

“This provision was presented as an attempt to level the campaign playing field, but in fact it provided another protection for incumbents against challengers,” explains Barr. He points to Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion, which ruled that the restriction imposes “an unprecedented penalty on any candidate who robustly exercises” his or her free speech rights.

In fact, the McCain-Feingold bill was a systematic attack on the First Amendment. “Although the Court mistakenly upheld the basic law, it has since ruled against some of measure’s worst provisions,” notes Barr. Ironically, “while Sen. John McCain likes to talk about appointing conservative judges to the Court, his allies in this case were Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Souter - all members of the liberal block.”

“Liberty in America is indivisible,” Barr says. “Conservative and liberal politicians like to pick and choose which freedoms they prefer, but Americans depend on the entire Bill of Rights to guarantee their liberty. The American people deserve a president prepared to fight for all of their freedoms.”

Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and has teamed up with groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Conservative Union to actively advocate every American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.
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