James Buckley was a wonderful man and a model public servant. He will be remembered for so many remarkable accomplishments. And perhaps highest on the list was his being the lead plaintiff in the landmark 1976 Supreme Court case of Buckley v. Valeo. That case brought together the proverbial “strange bedfellows” coalition of the conservative Senator James Buckley and the liberal Senator Eugene McCarthy in an alliance that also included the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Mississippi Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, the American Conservative Union, and other groups and individuals on the left and right. Their common ground was the fervent belief that the new campaign-funding limitations in the Federal Election Campaign Act were core violations of the indispensable freedoms of speech, press, association, and petition enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution. And, to boot, those limitations in combination created an Incumbents Protection Act designed to stifle dissent and disagreement and enshrine the established order.

The Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the law as violating the core principles of the First Amendment that the challengers had invoked. Though criticized over the years as a protection of wealth over democracy, the landmark Buckley decision has withstood the test of time because it embodied this core principle: Freedom of speech is the indispensable engine of political freedom and democracy and the government cannot be allowed to limit and control the speech that is used to challenge the government. In more recent times, the Citizens United ruling properly expanded that principle to protect the right of organizations and groups – corporate, union, non-profit — to use their resources to communicate their political messages to the public at large.

In January 2016, some of my colleagues and I at Brooklyn Law School organized a program to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the historic Buckley decision. I vividly remember calling the then retired Judge Buckley, whom I had not seen in years, and asking if there was any chance he could participate in our program. Without a moment’s hesitation he said yes, absolutely, he would be there. A month later, at age 93, looking remarkably spry and dapper, and speaking perfectly for exactly the 15 minutes we requested, Judge Buckley gave the most persuasive and concise description of the reasoning behind his landmark lawsuit that one could imagine. He explained how the law throttled the ability of outsiders and dissenters like himself to amass the financial resources to get their vital messages out. The students were delighted, and those of us who had been privileged to work on his landmark case 40 years earlier were reminded again of the character and qualities of the person who would lead that cause. He was a great man and a great citizen whose life and legacy can inspire us all. And, hopefully, the legal decision which resulted from his efforts will forever remain a landmark of freedom.

Joel M. Gora, a professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, was an ACLU lawyer in 1976 and helped represent Senator Buckley and the other challengers to the law in the landmark Supreme Court case of Buckley v. Valeo.