Latest Developments

New Federal Lawsuit Challenges Use of Artificial Intelligence in U.S. Elections to Undermine Voting Rights

Following robocalls featuring deepfaked President Biden’s voice urging people not to vote in the New Hampshire Primary, the League of Women Voters has filed a federal lawsuit to block the use of AI technology to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or deceive voters.  MANCHESTER, NH – (March 14, 2024) The League of Women Voters of the United
Read More

Hawaii State Senate Passes Bill Barring Multinational Corporations from Spending Money to Influence Local and State Elections

If passed in the House and signed into law, Hawaii would be the second state following Minnesota to ban multinational corporate money in elections. Honolulu, Hawaii (March 5, 2024) – The Hawaii State Senate today passed unanimously and with bipartisan support SB3243, a bill prohibiting foreign-influenced corporations from spending money to influence local and state
Read More

Federal Judge Strikes Down Some Anti-Voter Arizona Policies, Leaves Others in Place

On February 29, 2024, a federal judge struck down discriminatory, anti-voter provisions of two Arizona laws, H.B. 2492 and H.B. 2243, passed in 2022 that undermined Arizonans’ freedom to vote and violated federal law. The judge’s order also leaves a few anti-voter provisions intact. At issue in the case were discriminatory provisions of the two anti-voter laws,
Read More

Free Speech For People Statement on Trump v. Anderson Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court today has made a mockery of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has ruled that–despite inciting and facilitating a violent insurrection that defeated federal law enforcement, conquered the seat of our national government, nearly assassinated the vice president and key congressional leaders, and blocked
Read More

Free Speech For People’s Statement on Preliminary Injunction Ruling in Case Re Maine’s Ban on Foreign Government Corporate Spending in Elections

On Thursday, the federal district court in Maine granted a group of corporate plaintiffs’ motions to temporarily block a historic ballot measure prohibiting foreign government-influenced corporations from unlimited spending in Maine state and local elections. Thursday’s ruling, which is only temporary, will stop this important protection from going into effect while a full legal challenge
Read More

Free Speech For People’s Statement on Preliminary Injunction Ruling in Case Re Maine’s Ban on Foreign Government Corporate Spending in Elections

On Thursday, the federal district court in Maine granted a group of corporate plaintiffs’ motions to temporarily block a historic ballot measure prohibiting foreign government-influenced corporations from unlimited spending in Maine state and local elections. Thursday’s ruling, which is only temporary, will stop this important protection from going into effect while a full legal challenge
Read More

Illinois Court Rules Trump Disqualified for Engaging in Insurrection, Cannot Appear on Illinois Ballots

CHICAGO–In a historic ruling, Judge Tracie Porter of the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois ruled today that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified from the presidency under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause). This makes Illinois the third state (after Colorado and Maine) to rule that Trump is
Read More

Free Speech For People Seeking Public Interest Legal Fellow

Free Speech For People is seeking a post-graduate legal fellow (either a current 3L, judicial clerk, or public interest fellow at another public interest organization), preferably with constitutional law, social justice, and/or election law experience, to join a cutting-edge non-profit fighting for democracy for a one-year fully-funded legal fellowship with potential, contingent on funding, to
Read More

USA TODAY: Hawaii Advances Bill to Bar Multinational Corporations from Spending Money to Influence Elections

The USA Today reports that Hawaii is advancing new legislation (SB3243) to protect state and local elections from foreign-influenced corporations: State Senator Chris Lee, the bill’s sponsor, says the bill is “basically a mechanism to ensure that foreign influence doesn’t penetrate our elections in Hawaii.” “We have a lot of foreign activity in Hawaii being
Read More

Free Speech For People’s Statement on the New York State Court Decision Against Trump for Fraud and Our Yearslong Advocacy to the New York Attorney General

NEW YORK–Today, a New York state court issued a 92-page decision finding that disgraced ex-president Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in persistent fraud, fined Trump $355 million, and banned him from serving as an officer or director at the Trump Organization or any other New York company, or applying for loans from any
Read More