Barnette at 75: Compelled Speech and Corporate Corruption of the First Amendment Posted on March 11, 2018 (May 22, 2023) This blog post for the 75th anniversary of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette was drafted by Kourosh Azin, a student at Boston College Law School and a spring 2018 intern at Free Speech For People. To some, athletes refusing to stand during the national anthem seemed like a novel means of expressingRead More
Free Speech For People Joins Reform Groups and Watchdogs to Urge Congress to Oppose Poison Pill Campaign Finance Riders Posted on March 9, 2018 (October 3, 2018) In a letter sent on March 1, 2018, to members of Congress, Free Speech For People joined 24 reform groups and watchdogs to strongly urge members to oppose all campaign finance riders from being included in the final FY18 Omnibus Appropriations legislation. One potential rider would demolish the Johnson amendment, which prevents 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations fromRead More
Favorable Procedural Ruling in the Lawsuit that Could End Super PACs Posted on March 7, 2018 (March 7, 2018) We’ve passed the first hurdle in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. Earlier today, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the FEC’s attempts to defeat the case on procedural grounds. As background, our original November 4, 2016 federal court complaint, on behalfRead More
Jennifer Taub, Law Professor, Author, and Legal Expert, Joins Free Speech For People’s Board of Directors Posted on March 7, 2018 Free Speech For People is thrilled to welcome Professor Jennifer Taub to our Board of Directors! Jennifer Taub is a Professor of Law at Vermont Law School, where she teaches courses in contracts, corporations, securities regulation, and white collar crime. She is the author of the book Other People’s Houses: How Decades of Bailouts, Captive Regulators, andRead More
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Hears Argument in Key Campaign Finance Case Posted on March 6, 2018 (March 7, 2018) Massachusetts has prohibited business corporations from making political contributions since 1907. On Tuesday, March 6, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in 126 Self Storage v. Sullivan, a challenge to the state’s longstanding ban. (In 2015, we wrote about the trial court decision in this case, back when it was known as 1A AutoRead More
FSFP Welcomes Spring 2018 Legal Interns Posted on March 5, 2018 (March 7, 2018) Free Speech For People is pleased to announce our spring 2018 legal interns. We welcome these law students to our Legal Advocacy Program and we look forward to working with them. Kourosh Azin is a first year student at Boston College Law School. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California,Read More
Congratulations to Jasmine Gomez, winner of the Rob Doyle award from the National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts! Posted on March 5, 2018 (March 5, 2018) Free Speech For People is thrilled to announce that Jasmine Gomez, Democracy Honors Fellow, is a 2018 recipient of the Rob Doyle Award from the National Lawyers Guild – Massachusetts Chapter. As the Democracy Honors Fellow with Free Speech For People, Ms. Gomez works to challenge big money in politics, build and expand the movementRead More
Register Here for a National Conference Call on Inclusivity and Intersectionality in the Pro-Democracy Movement Posted on March 1, 2018 (May 28, 2020) Defending Key Reforms Come join our free national video call to discuss the importance of using an intersectional lens within the Pro-Democracy and Amendment Movements. The goal of these webinars is to give activists who are involved in passing the 28th amendment, or who are involved more broadly in democracy reform, tools to make our movement more intersectionalRead More
After Pentagon Stonewalls FOIA Requests for Information on Trump’s Proposed Military Parade, Free Speech For People Files New FOIA Requests to the District of Columbia Posted on March 1, 2018 (October 3, 2018) Today, Free Speech For People submitted six requests to agencies of the District of Columbia government, under D.C.’s municipal Freedom of Information Act, requesting release of documents and communications regarding President Trump’s proposed military parade through Washington, D.C. These requests seek information regarding topics such as costs, estimated budgets, parade routes, vehicles, hardware, weapons, aircraft,Read More
Free Speech For People Calls for Release of Treasury Department Records on Trump Organization’s Payments Posted on February 26, 2018 Challenging Corruption Did the Trump Organization Donate Profits from Foreign Government Patrons to the U.S. Treasury? FOIA Request Asks. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Free Speech For People submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of the Treasury, calling for the urgent release of communications, documents, and other records regarding payments made by the Trump Organization.Read More