Justice Samuel Alito says some people have a double standard when it comes to corporations' free speech rights, the Blog of the Legal Times reported Friday.
Alito made that observation while defending the court's controversial campaign finance decision in Citizens United at the Federalist Society's annual dinner.
In Citizens United, the court found corporations have a First Amendment right to spend freely on political campaigns as long as they don't give directly to candidates.
Citizens' detractors say they reject the notion that corporations are "people" with Constitutional rights like the right to free speech, Alito pointed out.
But those same naysayers think companies like The New York Times and other media outlets have the right to speak freely, Alito said, according to the Legal Times.
Many people who oppose Citizens United also want companies like Fox to be able to broadcast expletives, said Alito, who went on to quote the Nicole Richie awards show comment that spurred the Supreme Court showdown Fox v. FCC.
"Have you ever tried to get cow bleep out of a purse," said Alito, censoring the comment for the right-leaning crowd. "It's not so bleeping simple."
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