Will the Supreme Court save industry’s bacon? Ron Fein Explains via The Hill Posted on October 16, 2014 (January 13, 2015) The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, “however, some judges use it as a bludgeon to strike down common-sense disclosure rules” exlains our legal director, Ron Fein to The Hill. Disclosures that would benefit workers, investors, and customers, are often ruled against to protect the purported First Amendment rights of businesses and corporations. This summer,Read More
Sen. Goldwater Would Have Hated ‘Citizens United’ According to Ron Fein in the Washington Post Posted on October 15, 2014 (October 20, 2014) Last month, Post columnist George F. Will quoted Barry Goldwater in the opening lines of his piece, arguing that the Citizens United decision protects Americans’ First Amendment rights. Today in the Washington Post, our legal director, Ron Fein revists Goldwater’s record, and explains the unlimited political spending by business corporations is exactly what Goldwater didn’tRead More
Follow Rhana B in Granny D’s Footsteps to Raise Awareness for Campaign Finance Reform Posted on October 13, 2014 (October 1, 2018) After losing her spouse of fifty-six years in June 2014, 81-year-old Rhana Bazzini decided it was time to take to the streets. Inspired by Granny D’s walk across the country for campaign finance reform, Rhana began planning “Project Granny D”, a walk from Sarasota to Tallahassee to promote Move to Amend and Campaign FinanceRead More
‘Living wage’ Laws Unconstitutional: If You Ask Lobbyists, Explains Ron Fein to Reuters Posted on October 12, 2014 (April 23, 2015) (Image via David Ryder, Reuters) Last week, Free Speech For People filed an amicus brief in IFA v. Seattle, in defense of Seattle’s new ‘living wage’ law, now under fire from the International Franchise Associations, the National Restaurant Association, and other industry trade groups. Our legal director, Ron Fein explains today on Reuters. The piece begins: Industry trade groups are nowRead More
FSFP FILES AN AMICUS BRIEF IN IFA V. SEATTLE Posted on October 2, 2014 (May 18, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power MINIMUM WAGE UNDER FIRE IN SEATTLELegal Advocacy Group Says Workers’ Rights Are At Stake SEATTLE, WA — Free Speech For People, a national non-profit legal advocacy and public education organization, is joining the defense of Seattle’s new “living wage” law, now under fire from the International Franchise Association, the National Restaurant Association, and other industryRead More
Expand Free Speech by Limiting Political Money Posted on September 23, 2014 (September 25, 2014) Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles recently shared an op-ed with the Sacramento Bee on the history of California’s Political Reform Act and what it means today, nearly 40 years later. Levinson writes: “Californians took a leap of faith 40 years ago and sought to revolutionize elections and politics. In 1974, by aRead More
Why Every Single Supreme Court Justice Got Hobby Lobby Wrong Posted on September 18, 2014 (September 25, 2014) Ron Fein, Free Speech For People’s legal director, appears on Jurist today as a guest columnist. In his latest piece, Fein explains, “The Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Hobby Lobby made a serious mistake about the nature of corporate religious claims. But so did the dissent.”Read More
Will Montana Judges be for Sale? Posted on September 17, 2014 (September 25, 2014) Retired Montana Supreme Court Justice and Free Speech For People legal advisory committee member, James Nelson writes to the Independent Record on whether or not Montana’s court and judges will be forced “onto the auction block.” Nelson writes of the role of money in politics in a post-Citizens United era, and explains “there is no reason to believe it won’t happen in Montana’s upcoming elections for judges and justices.”Read More
A Small Step Forward in Ridding Politics of Big Money Posted on September 15, 2014 (September 26, 2014) To some, the U.S. Senate killing the Democracy For All Amendment may look like defeat, but to grassroots groups, the vote itself marks a victory. The U.S. Senate is listening to the people. Senators spent nearly a week debating the amendment, 54 voted for it, and the amendment was just six votes short of passing. Momentum to restore democracy to the people has been gained, not lost. Read More
The Senate Tried to Overturn ‘Citizens United’. Guess What Stopped Them? Posted on September 12, 2014 (September 26, 2014) A majority of senators voted Thursday for the Democracy For All Amendment “to clarify in the Constitution that Congress and the states have the authority to do what they did for a century before activist judges began intervening on behalf of wealthy donors and corporations: enact meaningful campaign finance rules and regulations.” That’s the good news, says today’s piece in The Nation. Read More