Graduation Year
2020
Date of Submission
5-2020
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)
Reader 1
Paul Hurley
Reader 2
George Thomas
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2020 Romi Ferder
Abstract
This thesis traces and establishes a troubling pattern across three core Supreme Court speech cases: Citizens United v. FEC, NIFLA v. Becerra, and Matal v. Tam. It argues that the Court has purported to extend speech rights, expanding protections for commercial and corporate speech, but has actually been undermining the meaningful speech and democratic rights of natural constitutional persons--members of We the People. The thesis first addresses Citizens United, a case on corporate political speech. It argues that, while the Court claimed to extend speech rights, it actually undermined the speech and democratic rights of natural constitutional persons by prioritizing the protection of legislated entities that deserve protection only so long as they further the rights of the citizen. The thesis next analyzes NIFLA, a case about disclosures at reproductive healthcare facilities. Its discussion of that case explores the unique roles of professionals as individuals defined by their duties to the natural constitutional person. It concludes that the Court threatened the speech and autonomy rights of citizens by prioritizing professional commercial speech. Finally, in analyzing Matal, a case about disparaging trademarks, this thesis reveals another instance in which the Court endangered the speech and equality rights of man, this time by requiring that the government actively propagate speech that threatened those rights. Ultimately, in addressing each of these cases, this thesis works to rectify the Court’s errors by prescribing a lens that prioritizes the meaningful speech and democratic rights of the natural constitutional person.
Recommended Citation
Ferder, Romi, "For the People: Free Speech and the De-Prioritization of the Rights of Man" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2490.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2490
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
