FSFP Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor Ben Clements Authors New Oped on Why The DOJ Must Reject Calls For President Biden’s Antitrust Nominee to Recuse Himself from The Department’s Case Against Tech Titans. Posted on October 1, 2021 (October 1, 2021) Corporate Abuse of Power CommonDreams recently published a new oped by FSFP Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor Ben Clements on why the Department Of Justice must reject calls for President Biden’s nominee for Associate Attorney General for Antitrust, Jonathan Kanter, to recuse himself from the Department’s case against Google and other tech titans. In the new piece, Clements notesRead More
Free Speech For People Proposes Comprehensive Model Legislation to Hold Social Media Giants Accountable and Protect Personal Privacy Posted on June 22, 2021 (July 1, 2021) Corporate Abuse of Power A uniquely bold and comprehensive proposal, The Digital Accountability Act seeks to hold social media companies accountable for amplifying dangerous disinformation and threats of violence. WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 22, 2021) – The public interest organization Free Speech For People announced today the introduction of the Digital Accountability Act, a uniquely bold and comprehensive proposal toRead More
FSFP Legal Director Submits Written Testimony To Support AB 20, The Corporate-Free Elections Act in California Posted on April 23, 2021 Corporate Abuse of Power Ron Fein, the Legal Director of Free Speech For People, submitted testimony in support of AB 20, the Corporate-Free Elections Act in California. “I am the Legal Director of Free Speech For People, a national non-partisan nonprofit organization, that works to renew our democracy and to limit the influence of money in our elections. IRead More
New York Attorney General Sues to Dissolve National Rifle Association Posted on August 6, 2020 Corporate Abuse of Power New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit in New York state court against the National Rifle Association and four top executives. The complaint charges the executives with diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain ofRead More
FSFP Joins Coalition Of Non-Profit Organizations In Campaign To Stop Hate And Disinformation on Facebook. Posted on July 2, 2020 (July 3, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power FSFP recently signed on to a letter urging Facebook to take action against hate and disinformation on its platform. The #StopHateForProfit campaign, led by a coalition of non-profit organizations, is calling on businesses to boycott advertisements on Facebook until the company takes specific steps to stop the promotion of “hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence.”Read More
Cell phone industry loses First Amendment challenge to consumer protection law Posted on July 9, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power On July 2d, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld mandatory consumer safety warnings for cell phones against a corporate First Amendment challenge by the cell phone industry’s lobbying group. For more details on the background of this case, see our blog post from 2015. The following blog post about the newRead More
Corporations, the Constitution, and Democracy Posted on October 27, 2015 (June 9, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power Free Speech For People and Loyola Law School invite you to attend a special symposium Friday, November 20, 2015 12:00pm – 4:30pm Robinson Courtroom, Loyola Law School, 919 Albany St, Los Angeles, CA 90015 “The Future of Corporate Constitutional Rights Litigation and Theory” 12pm – 1:10 pm Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Irvine School of LawMargaret M. Blair,Read More
CORPORATIONS, THE CONSTITUTION, AND DEMOCRACY Posted on September 28, 2015 (May 18, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power Please join us for an all-day legal symposium at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, which will include scholars from across the country to discuss new scholarship and legal arguments challenging the doctrines underlying the Citizens United ruling and to advance a new jurisprudence in defense of our democracy.* Friday, November 20 9:00am-4:30pm Your RSVP is requested.Read More
Advancing a New Jurisprudence for American Self-Government and Democracy Posted on June 26, 2015 (May 13, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power A legal symposium co-sponsored by Harvard Law School and Free Speech For People November 7, 2014 Symposium Participants Mark Alexander, Seton Hall Law John Bonifaz, Free Speech For People Ben Clements, Free Speech For People Jeff Clements, Free Speech For People John Coates, Harvard Law School Caroline Mala Corbin, University ofRead More
Free Speech For People Joins In Filing Appeal Brief In Noel v. Board of Election Commissioners Posted on March 18, 2015 (September 16, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power Free Speech For People joined the legal team defending the Take Back St. Louis ballot initiative campaign. This ballot initiative, which would amend the city charter of St. Louis (Missouri) to prevent the city from granting tax breaks to fossil fuel and nuclear mining companies, was challenged in court before the ballots were printed. At the preliminary injunction stage, the judge (citing Citizens United) found that the initiative would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as state law. Read More