Conservative favor interpreting the Constitution exactly as the founding fathers did. This requires a bit of mind reading, but it is hard to see how anyone could have thought they were talking about corporations when they guaranteed free speech. Corporate law at the time was focused on protection of the public interest, and not on the interests of corporate shareholders. Corporate charters were closely regulated by the states.
So how did it come to pass in that on Jan. 21, 2010, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court gave corporations the same right to spend in elections as ordinary citizens, in a case deceptively called “Citizens United.”? (slate)