Latest Developments

Expand Free Speech by Limiting Political Money
Posted on

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 a
Read More

Why Every Single Supreme Court Justice Got Hobby Lobby Wrong
Posted on

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

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

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

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

Free Speech For People Statement on the Senate Vote
Posted on

The United States Senate engaged in an historic vote on the Senate floor on the Democracy For All Amendment (S.J. Res. 19), which would allow for overall campaign spending limits and would end the big money dominance of our elections. Fifty-four US Senators voted in support of the amendment.
Read More

The Senate Just Voted to Keep Big Money in Politics. Here Are Three Reasons to Celebrate Anyway.
Posted on

Today, the US Senate voted to keep big money in politics. The Democracy For All Amendment fell short of receiving the 67 votes it necessary to pass, but not all is lost.

Fran Korten of YES! Magazine explains, “the fact that the issue reached the Senate floor is a huge victory for the American people, who overwhelmingly say they want something done about corporate influence in elections.”
Read More

Democrats Embrace ‘McCutcheon’ Decision
Posted on

Despite ongoing criticism of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC, Senate Democrats now embrace a big-money fundraising tool, made possible by the court’s decision. The new “jumbo” fundraising committee of choice for Democrats is the Grassroots Victory Project 2014, and it’s their first major entry into the realm of massive campaign contributions.
Read More