McConnell v. FEC, 15 Years Later Posted on December 10, 2018 Democracy Amendments Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, a case that points to a future that could have been. The case The case was born out of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as McCain-Feingold after its two Senate sponsors, John McCain (R-Ariz.)Read More
New campaign finance reform book, and a free chapter on the 28th Amendment Posted on October 26, 2018 (December 17, 2018) Democracy Amendments In April 2016, Free Speech For People co-hosted a symposium at Seton Hall School of Law featuring scholars and activists from across the country to help develop new thinking and proposed solutions for overhauling our nation’s campaign finance system. The ideas presented at that symposium led to the new book, ‘Democracy by the People: Reforming Campaign Finance in America’.Read More
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club decision, seven years later Posted on June 27, 2018 (June 28, 2018) Democracy Amendments June 27 marks the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, which struck down key portions of Arizona’s public campaign financing law as supposedly violating the First Amendment. This blog post for the decision’s anniversary was drafted by Ryan Gorman, a student at Harvard Law SchoolRead More
Bellotti at 40: Corporations, Political Spending, and the First Amendment Posted on April 26, 2018 (April 26, 2018) Democracy Amendments Today is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, a landmark case that paved the way for Citizens United. It’s not an anniversary to celebrate. In Bellotti, the Supreme Court (by a 5-4 margin) struck down a Massachusetts law that prohibited corporations from spending money on ballotRead More
Harper v. Virginia and the Wealth Primary as a New Poll Tax Posted on March 24, 2018 (September 18, 2018) Democracy Amendments Today is the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, which struck down poll taxes in state elections as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Virginia’s poll taxes, enacted in 1902, had preserved Virginia’s place as an elite white man’s commonwealth. But to this day,Read More
The Hill: Trump’s ‘treason’ talk is unprecedented, un-American Posted on February 14, 2018 Democracy Amendments As a piece in The Hill today noted, President Trump recently suggested congressional Democrats were guilty of “treason” for failing to applaud his State of the Union speech. As he put it, “Can we call that treason? Why not?” Here’s why not: The Constitution specifically defines treason, and failing to applaud the president isn’t treason—not by a longRead More
What the Ninth Circuit’s Prostitution Decision Can Teach Us About Money in Politics Posted on January 29, 2018 (October 3, 2018) Democracy Amendments A federal court of appeals just rejected a case challenging prostitution laws as unconstitutional. A Newsweek piece published this Saturday—as it happens, the anniversary of oral argument in the case that created super PACs—explained how this decision, perhaps unexpectedly, shows what’s wrong with the way the Supreme Court thinks about money in politics. The analysis draws on scholarship byRead More
On the eighth anniversary of Citizens United, here is how you can take action Posted on January 22, 2018 (October 3, 2018) Democracy Amendments Sunday, January 21st, 2018, marked the eighth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. This case said that we can no longer bar corporations from spending unlimited sums of money to take over our elections. The ruling was both a dangerous campaign finance decision and an extreme extension of the fabricated doctrine ofRead More
The Recorder: McGovern introduces bill seeking to remove big money influence in elections Posted on January 25, 2017 (October 2, 2018) Democracy Amendments Richie Davis of the Recorder reports on the introduction of the Democracy For All Amendment by U.S. Representative James McGovern and other members of Congress. The amendment would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. Click here to learn more about the Democracy for All Amendment. “U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, has joined withRead More
The Fight to Overturn Citizens United and Reclaim Our Democracy Posted on October 25, 2016 (May 13, 2020) Democracy Amendments A Conversation With Free Speech For People Co-Founder and President, John BonifazPresented By Cornell Law School NOVEMBER 2, 20166:00 – 7:00PM This event is free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by ACS chapter at Cornell Law School. In the midst of the most expensive election in thisRead More