Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections
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LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL
from that decision indicate his vote changed on the issue at the urging of the Chief
Justice, who viewed a finding of a constitutional right to gay sexual relationships to
be the most far-reaching issue of his three decades on the bench. Justice Powell, after
he had left the Court, noted that he most likely made a mistake by switching his vote.
143 Part 4 focuses on business. The authors discuss the Burger Court's extension
of speech rights to corporations in allowing product advertisement and the expen-
diture of corporate money in the political realm. The landmark and controversial
decision of the Roberts Court in Citizens United13 traces back to Burger Court deci-
sions. In fact, the authors note that if citizens had been more familiar with their
Supreme Court and its decisions, the level of shock and outrage over the Citizens
United decision would have been dampened, as the Burger Court essentially put
forth decades ago the premise that corporations have First Amendment rights.
¶44 Part 5 focuses on the presidency. President Nixon famously set out to
remake the Court after the liberalism of the Warren Court. He was able to put his
own stamp on the Court as he appointed four members of the Burger Court,
including the Chief Justice. Yet the Court had to face the President himself in
deciding whether he would be required to turn over certain Oval Office recordings.
The Court unanimously decided that he must.14 The President ultimately resigned
not long after the decision. While playing this bit part in the resignation of the
President, the Burger Court actually strengthened the presidency. The Court found
an absolute immunity granted to the President from damages for liability predi-
cated on official acts, and it also found a qualified immunity for presidential aides.
¶45 The authors include an informative appendix of short biographies of all
Justices serving on the Burger Court. Even more informative are the notes on
source materials. Using a multitude of primary source materials, including the
papers of Justices Lewis Powell, Harry Blackmun, and Potter Stewart, the authors
pull back the proverbial curtain that surrounds the perceived secrecy of the Court's
inner workings. The wealth of materials is a treasure trove for those fascinated by
the Court. This title deserves to be placed on the bookshelf alongside other schol-
arly books written on the Court, its Justices, and its work.
Hasen, Richard L. Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and
the Distortion of American Elections. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
2016. 241p. $32.50.
Reviewed by Paul J. Gatz*
¶46 One of the most valuable skills that law schools can teach students is how
to reside comfortably in the grey areas-those regions of thought where competing
concepts are continually held in tension without ever resolving into a clear out-
come. The law is replete with these types of intellectual challenges, and campaign
finance law is no exception, weighing in the balance two of the highest values of
our system of laws: popular democracy and freedom of expression. Richard L.
Hasen's new book highlights this tension and navigates through these two poles to
arrive at a workable proposal that seeks to preserve the values of both.
13. Citizens United v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).
14. United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974).
* © Paul J. Gatz, 2017. Reference Librarian, Michael E. Moritz Law Library, Moritz College of
Law, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
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Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections
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