Month: May 2015

Actress Debra Winger Joins Congressman Jim McGovern In Cambridge Calling For A 28th Amendment To Reclaim Democracy

(From left to right: Jeff Clements, FSFP’s Co-Founder and Board Chair; John Bonifaz, FSFP’s Co-Founder and President; Debra Winger; and Congressman Jim McGovern) Last night, Free Speech For People held an event in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the acclaimed actress Debra Winger and Congressman Jim McGovern, a leader in the US Congress for the call for
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FSFP And Partners File Joint Brief In US Court of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit Defending Seattle Wage Law

Seattle’s living wage law should be upheld against claims by the International Franchise Association and other industry trade groups that it violates alleged rights of corporations under the U.S. Constitution, Free Speech For People, Courage Campaign, Equal Justice Society, and Demos argue in an amicus brief filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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“How The Money Primary Is Undermining Voting Rights” via The Nation

A new post on The Nation takes on today’s money primary, and explains how the vast majority of Americans are being denied the value of their vote. The author, Ari Berman provides analysis that parallels the poll tax denying African-Americans the right to vote, to how the influence of the mega-rich shuts out the voices of everyday Americans.

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Hey Chevron, Oil and Democracy Don’t Mix

In 2014, Chevron dumped more than $3 million into municipal elections in a town of 107,000 in an attempt to select pro-industry candidates to the City Council and mayor’s office. Chevron’s efforts to “buy Richmond’s election” caught national media attention, while grassroots organizations quickly mobilized to counteract the spending, but there’s more to this story than just trying to
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Justice James Nelson on the Supreme Court and Williams-Yulee to Salon,”They’re talking out of both sides of their mouth”

Salon published today an interview with Justice James Nelson, former Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and Free Speech For People Board member, on the recent Supreme Court decision in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar. Justice Nelson discusses the hypocrisy of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of upholding the integrity of the judiciary, while the Citizens United decision “is allowing vast amounts of money to be poured into judicial races that does to the judiciary exactly what they said shouldn’t happen in Yulee.”
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