Citizens United Gets Short Shift in #HobbyLobby Opinion

Even though today’s majority opinion in Hobby Lobby treats a closed corporation as having religious liberty (enough to raise a RFRA objection to contraception coverage), it is notable that the Alito majority opinion does not cite Citizens United, a case holding that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend money in candidate elections.  I’m not saying that CU would be controlling on any question in Hobby Lobby, but given the closeness of the issues I was somewhat surprised by the omission.

The case does appear in Justice Ginsburg’s Hobby Lobby dissent, but it is Ginsburg (for the four liberal dissenters) citing the liberal Justice Stevens’ opinion in Citizens United:

Corporations, Justice Stevens more recently reminded, “have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires.” Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, 558 U. S. 310, 466(2010) (opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part).

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