What does the decision mean for the average American? Posted on December 7, 2009 (June 24, 2020) Democracy Amendments The Court’s action dramatically dilutes the vote and the voice of every American who does not control a large corporate treasury. The decision unleashes billions of dollars in corporate money to dominate legislatures and elections. Read More
Frequently Asked Questions About the People’s Rights Amendment Posted on November 27, 2009 (August 28, 2020) Democracy Amendments What will the People’s Rights Amendment say and what will it do? The People’s Rights Amendment will overrule the Citizens United v. FEC case and return the First Amendment to its longstanding purpose as a guarantee of the fullest rights of a free people and the press. The People’s Rights Amendment will overrule the fabricationRead More
Will the People’s Rights Amendment prevent people from joining together into political parties, citizens’ organizations, associations, unions or other groups to participate in elections and public debate? Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 24, 2020) Democracy Amendments No. The People’s Rights Amendment applies to corporate entities and has no application to voluntary associations and does not change constitutionally protected freedom of association. People are always free to associate with others to promote their speech or engage in political activity. Read More
Will the People’s Rights Amendment limit speech? Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 22, 2020) Democracy Amendments No. The People’s Rights Amendment will preserve and protect free speech for everyone. Eliminating corporate money in politics or eliminating the ability of corporations to strike down laws that executives of a corporation may think limit corporate marketing campaigns will not effect the speech rights of a single person. Read More
How did the Citizens United case happen? Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 22, 2020) Democracy Amendments Citizens United is the extreme result of a focused political effort in the past two or three decades to transform the First Amendment into a tool for corporations to avoid regulation and oversight by the American people. Before 1976, there was no such thing as protected “commercial speech” under the First Amendment. For the first two centuries of the American republic, corporations did not have First Amendment rights to limit the reach of democratically enacted regulations. And states and Congress could regulate or prevent corporate contributions and expenditures in elections. Read More
Does the Constitution require the result in Citizens United? Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 24, 2020) Democracy Amendments No. Citizens United v. FEC would never have been decided this way in any other era of the Court in our history. The five self-described conservatives on the current Court have cast aside a century of federal restrictions on corporate money in politics, and two centuries of First Amendment jurisprudence. The notion that a corporation has First Amendment rights to “speech” and political activity is contrary to the history, words, spirit and intent of the First Amendment and American self-government. Read More
Background Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 24, 2020) Democracy Amendments See Bellotti v. First National Bank of Boston, 435 U.S. 765 (1978) (invalidating Massachusetts restriction on corporate expenditures to influence voter referenda not related to corporate purpose); FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. 449 (2007) (as applied to issue advocacy advertisements of non-profit corporation, federal corporate expenditure restriction held to violate First Amendment); Thompson v. Western States Med. Ctr., 535 U.S. 357 (2002) (federal restriction on advertising of compounded drugs invalidated); Lorillard v. Reilly, 533 U.S.Read More
What did the Court decide in Citizens United? Posted on November 27, 2009 (June 23, 2020) Democracy Amendments A sharply divided Supreme Court decided that the American people are powerless to stop corporations from using corporate funds to influence state and federal elections. The 5-4 decision ruled that the restrictions on corporate expenditures in elections contained in the federal Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (known as BCRA or “McCain-Feingold”) violated the First Amendment protections of free speech. Read More