Dick Durbin
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Illinois and Senate Democratic whip
Condemned
Statement summary
Durbin calls Citizens United mindless and criticizes treating businesses as having the same constitutional rights as individuals.
“This decision that we face today— Citizens United—was mindless. To say that a business has the same rights as individuals under the Constitution is a mindless conclusion.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Durbin criticizes Citizens United in Senate remarksSenate p. S211, remarks by Senator Durbin
The Congressional Record prints Durbin's January 14 floor remarks. His office published a release the following day. His description of the ruling and its effects is his assessment.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The decision protecting corporate independent election spending is the action examined here. Durbin directly rejects its reasoning and criticizes its political effects; he is not merely proposing an unrelated ethics reform.