Former Minnesota state legislator says the Citizens United ruling needs to be reversed

In 2010 the U.S. Supreme court ruled in the "Citizens United" that corporations and labor unions had the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political ads calling for the election or defeat of individual candidates.

The ruling was then cited by a lower court, which struck down the financial limits on corporate contributions, equating giving money with free speech.

Former Minnesota State Senator Dean Johnson, a 1969 Luther College graduate, says the ruling has hurt the political process.  Johnson says politicians used to be cautious about what they said about their opponents, but now "It's plain wide open."

Johnson, who spent 30 years in the Minnesota legislature, says the combination of unlimited financial contributions and sophisticated polling techniques has created a situation in which "the candidates have lost control."

He says it will be up to the public to come up with a solution to changing our current political atmosphere--and he's hoping the new system will be one in which people respect others.

Johnson is on campus at Luther College this week as a visiting lecturer, both in classes and at lectures.