Granted, Sandra Day O’Connor is retired from the U.S. Supreme Court, to which she was a Ronald Reagan nominee, but during a law school conference Tuesday at Georgetown, the former justice still made concerned noises about the top court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling. –KA

The New York Times:

“Gosh,” she said of last week’s campaign finance bombshell, “I step away for a couple of years and there’s no telling what’s going to happen.”

Justice O’Connor was giving the keynote address at a Georgetown law school conference devoted in part to how Thursday’s campaign finance decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, will affect judicial elections.

Her answer: “In invalidating some of the existing checks on campaign spending, the majority in Citizens United has signaled that the problem of campaign contributions in judicial elections might get considerably worse and quite soon.”

Justice O’Connor criticized the decision only obliquely, reminding the audience that she had been among the authors of McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, the 2003 decision overruled in large part on Thursday.

Read more

WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...

This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.

At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.

Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.

Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.

Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.

Donate now.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG