What Seattle Can Teach the Country About Fixing Our Democracy. Posted on November 2, 2021 (November 2, 2021) Defending Key Reforms Seattle’s twin campaign finance reforms—democracy vouchers, and a ban on political spending by foreign-influenced corporations—have proven their merit. By Ron Fein, Cindy Black Far from the dysfunctional tumult in Congress, Seattle has found two keys toward fixing problems that plague our democracy. The country should pay attention. America’s system for funding election campaigns is broken. MostRead More
Seattle’s Clean Campaigns Act is Successfully Keeping Foreign-Influenced Corporate Money out of City Elections. Posted on October 25, 2021 (November 2, 2021) Defending Key Reforms In January 2020, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed the Clean Campaigns Act, which bans political spending in city elections by corporations under partial foreign ownership or other forms of foreign influence. The law is working: this year’s election, unlike 2019’s, isn’t drowning in money from corporations answering to investors in other countries. And it’sRead More
FSFP President John Bonifaz Discusses Legal Strategies For Getting Money Out of Politics With the BOLD ReThink Project. Posted on September 30, 2021 Defending Key Reforms FSFP President John Bonifaz recently participated in a virtual discussion with the BOLD ReThink, a public advocacy project focused on democracy reform, about innovative legal strategies for getting money out of politics and preserving a democracy of, by, and for the people. “The right to vote is a right to participate in the political processRead More
“Our democracy is on the line”: FSFP President John Bonifaz Featured in an Article on the Call for Congress to Delay Its August Recess to Pass the For The People Act. Posted on July 28, 2021 (July 28, 2021) Defending Key Reforms FSFP President John Bonifaz was recently featured in a new Common Dreams piece on a twenty-two-member coalition call for the U.S. Senate to delay the August recess in order to pass the For the People Act. Since the House of Representatives passed H.R.1 in March 2021, Free Speech For People has been urging the U.S.Read More
“The eyes of history are on him”: New FSFP Oped Published by Newsweek On Why President Biden Must Push The U.S. Senate To End The Filibuster And Pass The For The People Act And The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Posted on July 16, 2021 Defending Key Reforms Newsweek recently published a new oped by FSFP President John Bonifaz and FSFP Board Chairman Ben Clements on why President Biden must utilize his presidential power to push the U.S. Senate to end the filibuster and pass the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The following is an excerptRead More
Nearly 150 Advocacy Groups Call on Majority Leader Schumer to Not Allow the Filibuster to Block the For the People Act. Posted on April 9, 2021 Defending Key Reforms New sign-on letter comes as For the People Act is set to move through the Senate in coming weeks. “We strongly urge you and the Senate Democratic caucus to do the right thing and not allow the filibuster to once again stand in the way of civil rights, voting rights, racial justice, and the strengtheningRead More
Take Action: Ban Surveillance Advertising Posted on March 24, 2021 (May 7, 2021) Defending Key Reforms Most people who use the internet are familiar with personalized advertisements. But the big internet platforms aren’t selling you products. They are selling you and the troves of information they have collected about you to advertisers and others seeking to manipulate what you see on the internet. For companies such as Facebook and Google, thisRead More
New FSFP Oped Published By Moyers On Democracy On The Fight Against Growing Threats To Voting Rights And Passing The For The People Act And The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Posted on March 22, 2021 (April 5, 2021) Defending Key Reforms Moyers On Democracy recently published a new oped by FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein, FSFP President John Bonifaz, and FSFP Board Chair and Senior Legal Advisor Ben Clements on the growing threats to voting rights across the country and the urgent need to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting RightsRead More
FSFP Joins Coalition of Advocacy Groups Urging Democratic Senators To Publicly Commit To Recommending Public Interest Lawyers For Judgeships. Posted on March 17, 2021 (March 19, 2021) Defending Key Reforms On Tuesday, Free Speech For People joined a coalition of advocacy organizations in a letter urging Democratic Senators to publicly commit to recommending public interest lawyers for judicial vacancies. The coalition, led by Demand Justice, references an earlier letter written by White House Counsel Dana Remus to Senators specifying that the Biden administration is “focusedRead More
Juneteenth and democracy Posted on June 19, 2020 (June 19, 2020) Defending Key Reforms For a century and a half, many Black Americans have observed Juneteenth (June 19) as the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Today, we all recognize Juneteenth not just as a celebration of the end of slavery, but as a call to action to finally move our country to true racialRead More