“Opening Statement, Citizens United and the Scope of Professor Teachout’s Anti-Corruption Principle”

Seth Barrett Tillman has posted this draft on SSRN (Northwestern U L Rev Colloquy). Here is an excerpt from the extended abstract:

My critique, by contrast, will largely focus on the first step of Teachout’s analysis – her initial historical and textual claims. Teachout’s historical claim is simply wrong: the Founders were not “obsessed” with corruption. Second, Teachout misunderstands the constitutional text giving rise to her purported free-standing anti-corruption principle. Even if one concedes (as, in fact, I do) the existence of a free-standing anti-corruption principle, the scope of that principle extends exclusively to appointed federal offices, not to (state or federal) elective positions. Thus, Teachout’s ACP cannot inform our First Amendment analysis in regard to congressional power over state or federal election processes.

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