Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's Citizens United Disclosure Salve 'Not Working'

When Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy penned the 2010 Citizens United decision allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited sums of money on elections, he did so with a promise that instant disclosure of election spending over the Internet would be enough to prevent corruption. "With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters,” Justice Kennedy wrote in the decision.

The problem with Justice Kennedy’s belief in instant online disclosure is that, at the time of his opinion, plenty of loopholes in campaign finance disclosure law already made it possible to cover up unlimited spending. Many opponents of Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion noted this at the time. Now, Kennedy has admitted that his belief in disclosure hasn’t turned out the way he thought it would. Justice Kennedy defended his Citizens United ruling. “You live in this cyber age. A report can be done in 24 hours,” he said. But he also added that disclosure is “not working the way it should.”