To the editor:

Most of us know that Congress includes some of the finest politicians that money can buy. After this past week’s Supreme Court ruling, they will become even finer. Big coal, big oil, big banking, big insurance and big agriculture will now be able to seat their most vocal advocates by ushering their way to power with cold, hard cash. Once in office, these purchased politicians will be obligated to do the bidding of the corporations that put them there. More than 100 years of legal precedent evaporated overnight.

During their nomination hearings, both Justice Alito and Justice Roberts said that they respected precedent and that this would be an overriding consideration in their future decisions. They flat-out lied to Congress and to the American people. Republicans for years have scorned judges for “legislating from the bench,” but this is exactly what the majority did in this case, and quite hypocritically, most Republicans were pleased with the result.

Large corporations will now be running the country, and the chasm between the “haves and have-nots” will widen even further, since the majority of laws will now be written in favor of big business over the rights of individuals. Clean air, clean water, green energy, anti corruption measures and initiatives to halt global warming essentially died with this decision.

As Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in his scathing dissent, “The court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.”

He’s absolutely right.

Kevin Fristad

Clinton