Recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was a “staunch advocate of free speech.” Notably, he strayed from conservative politics to cast the deciding vote to strike down laws banning flag burning. (NPR, February 13, 2016, by Nina Totenberg)
Scalia wrote five majority opinions in First Amendment cases during the Roberts term: Davenport v. Washington Educ. Association; United States v. Williams; New York Bd of Elections v. Lopez Torres; Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Asso.; and Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan. He wrote concurrences in four other cases included Citizens United v. FEC. (Concurring Opinions, February 13, 2016, by Ronald K.L. Collins)
“Scalia demonstrated a wide-ranging respect for freedom of speech in cases dealing with advertising, online indecency, flag burning, dog fight films, violent video games, and criticism of politicians,” writes Jacob Sullum in Reason, February 14, 2016.
Scalia and the court has been criticized roundly for their 2010 decision Citizens United v. FEC that led to Super PACs and secretive campaign contributions by wealthy individuals. Scalia defended the decision that overturned restrictions on corporate contributions in political campaigns and prompted proliferation of TV ads, “I don’t care who is doing the speech – the more the merrier. People are not stupid. If they don’t like it, they’ll shut it off.” (First Amendment Center, January 23, 2012, by The Associated Press)