Latest Developments

We’re excited that Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota has announced that he will introduce in Congress the new “Protect Democracy From Criminal Corporations Act.” This bold new legislation is an important step toward undoing the damage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and restoring control over our democracy. Corporations that have already committed major criminal felonies have
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Free Speech For People’s Legal Advocacy Program aims to “expand the constitutional conversation” about money in politics. Based on yesterday’s Supreme Court argument in a case involving judges soliciting campaign contributions, it appears that we’ve expanded that conversation in an unlikely direction: Justice Scalia.

Some background: 30 of the 39 states that elect their judges have an ethics rule that prohibits judges (or aspiring judges) from soliciting contributions. That doesn’t mean their campaigns can’t raise money—it just means that someone else (a volunteer, friend, or campaign employee) has to make the “ask.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, which challenges this “anti-solicitation” rule as violating freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Free Speech For People, along with Board member and retired Montana Supreme Court Justice the Honorable James Nelson, filed an amicus brief in support of Florida’s rule. So did many of our allies. But our argument was a little different from theirs.
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Today on the steps of Ashburton Place in Boston, a host of public interest organizations gathered for the release of a new report documenting the dominance of big money in the November 2014 Congressional elections. Authored by MASSPIRG and Demos, the report calls for solutions moving big money dominance to small donors.
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(Image via LA Times) An op-ed in the LA Times reflects on Citizens United’s five year anniversary and its effect on law beyond campaign finance. The damage felt from the Supreme Court’s ruling on campaign finance is just the beginning, as corporations continue to accrue more and more rights of ‘we the people’. Some highlights from the
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On October 13, 2014, Rhana Bazzini left her home in Sarasota, Florida to embark on a 400+ mile journey in the footsteps of Doris “Granny D” Haddock to call for a constitutional amendment to reclaim our democracy.

Free Speech For People joined Rhana in Tallahassee on December 3, 2014 for the final leg of her walk to the Florida state capitol. We interviewed Rhana about her time on the road, and what it means to follow in “Granny D’s” footsteps.
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On Wednesday, January 7, the Federal District Court in Burlington, Vermont will begin oral arguments in the landmark case of Grocery Manufacturers Association, et al. v. Sorrell, which addresses the state’s recently-passed law requiring the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering.

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