Latest Developments

Federal Judge Confirms What We Already Knew: Super PAC Contributions Can Be Considered Bribes

On Monday, a district court judge confirmed what many of us already know: Super PAC contributions can be considered bribes. Four corruption charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and his donor, Salomon Melgen, were dismissed but the judge denied motions to throw out other charges, including the senator’s solicitation of contributions from a Super PAC in exchange for official acts.
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Money in Politics as a Civil Rights Issue

Big money interests increasingly dominate our election process and threaten the basic promise of American democracy: political equality for all.  Like the poll tax of the past, today’s campaign finance system operates as a barrier to equal and meaningful participation in the political process.  This special forum will address the question of money in politics from
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CORPORATIONS, THE CONSTITUTION, AND DEMOCRACY

Please join us for an all-day legal symposium at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, which will include scholars from across the country to discuss new scholarship and legal arguments challenging the doctrines underlying the Citizens United  ruling and to advance a new jurisprudence in defense of our democracy.* Friday, November 20 9:00am-4:30pm Your RSVP is requested.
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Ending Super PACs: Is SpeechNow Vulnerable?

Argued less than a week after Citizens United v. FEC, and decided just two months later, the D.C. Circuit’s less-widely-reported decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC further extended Citizens United and opened the door to what we now call Super PACs. But some argue that SpeechNow, which the Supreme Court declined to review, is not a necessary or the best interpretation of Citizens United, and
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Join Jeff Clements Wednesday 9/30 at UMASS Dartmouth, MA

Jeff Clements, Free Speech For People’s Co-Founder and Board Chair, has authored a new updated and expanded edition of his widely acclaimed book, Corporations Are Not People. Join Jeff for a special speaking event sponsored by Citizens for Economic Justice and the Public Interest Law Fellowship Program at UMASS Dartmouth School of Law on the evening of
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