On April 16 of this year the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down a decision which, if upheld, could inhibit corporations from expressing political views during an election campaign—and perhaps at other times as well.
The case, Ash v. Cort, originated in a speech, “Speak Out for Truth,” by Stewart S. Cort, chairman of Bethlehem Steel, delivered before the Rotary Club in Jacksonville, Florida in June 1972. The thrust of Mr. Cort’s remarks was that certain politicians (he named no names) were making reckless and irresponsible charges about the business community and were likely to continue todosoas election day neared. Though the chairman did not say so, the politician who was making the most irresponsible charges just then was George McGovern. McGovern had said some unpleasant things during the primaries about business in general and the steel industry in particular. So too had Edmund Muskie.
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