Move to Amend explained

Move To Amend
Type:Nonprofit organization
Formation:2010
Headquarters:Sacramento, California
Location:United States
Leader Title:National Director
Leader Name:Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap
Focus:Political and social advocacy
Method:Education, Lobbying, Resolution, and ballot campaigns
Website:www.movetoamend.org

Move to Amend is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization that seeks to blunt corporate power by amending the United States Constitution to end corporate personhood and state that money is not speech.[1] The group was created in response to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make expenditures from their general treasuries supporting or opposing candidates for political office, arguing that the Court's decision disrupts the democratic process by granting disproportionate influence to the wealthy.[2] Move to Amend advocates for the "We the People" Amendment, currently in Congress as, to establish that constitutional rights are reserved for natural persons only and require the regulation and disclosure of spending in U.S. elections.[3]

Background

In 2009, several national organizations including the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Program on Corporations, and Democracy (POCLAD) and Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (DUHC) submitted an amicus curiae authored by former Massachusetts assistant attorney general Jeff Clements to the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a U.S. constitutional law case concerning the regulation of independent political expenditures by corporations, which the non-profit organization Citizens United challenged on the grounds of violating the First Amendment’s freedom of speech. The brief argued against Citizens United and called for the court to reverse its precedents on corporate personhood, citing the 1886 case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. that preceded the extension of constitutional protections to corporations under the Fourteenth Amendment.[4]

When the Court ruled to allow for corporations to make political expenditures from their general treasuries under the First Amendment's free speech rights in January 2010, several organizers and attorneys from those organizations behind the brief launched Move to Amend as a national campaign to overturn the Citizens United ruling, arguing that the Court’s decision disrupts the democratic process by granting disproportionate influence to the wealthy with the intent of promoting corporate power at the expense of ordinary citizens.[5] [6] [7] [8]

Resolutions and ballot campaigns

Move to Amend's strategy has included grassroots organizing to lobby elected officials and candidates to pass local resolutions and ordinances through municipalities, which call on state and federal representatives to support a 28th Amendment and may include holding a "Democracy Day" public hearing. As of November 2023, over 840 local governments and 22 states have passed resolutions and ordinances supporting a constitutional amendment to address the Citizens United ruling."[9] Over 300 resolutions were passed by voters via ballot initiatives, including statewide initiatives in Colorado, Montana, California and Washington.[10] [11] [12]

Local affiliates of Move to Amend have helped pass many such resolutions supporting the language of the We the People Amendment, including the Los Angeles City Council which voted unanimously to end constitutional rights for corporations in 2011.[13] In Ohio, local ordinances supporting the amendment and creating a "Democracy Day" public hearing to examine the local impact of political influence by corporations have been passed by municipal governments and voters via ballot initiatives, including Cleveland and Toledo.[14] [15] [16] In Wisconsin, a partner of Move to Amend - Wisconsin United to Amend WIUTA, is building the movement for this amendment. As of 2023, 170 municipalities have passed resolutions, comprising 61% (3.5 million) of Wisconsin residents. WIUTA is also bringing the faith communities into the movement. As of 2023, 10 faith congregations have also passed resolutions calling for the amendment. The Outreach Director, George Penn, can be reached through their site at WIUTA.org.[17]

Leadership

The group has included organizers and attorneys from several national organizations among its leadership, including:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Move to Amend: We the People, Not We the Corporations . Huffpost . October 10, 2015 . July 17, 2019.
  2. Web site: Move to Amend . Move to Amend . December 26, 2011.
  3. Web site: The 'We the People Amendment' Aims to Fix the Crisis of Corporate Rule . Common Dreams . March 7, 2019 . July 17, 2019.
  4. Web site: Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Appellee Federal Elections Commission on Supplemental Question . Federal Elections Commission . July 16, 2019. Clements, Jeffrey.
  5. Web site: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Supreme Court of the United States Blog. June 21, 2019.
  6. Web site: Move to Amend's Quick Guide to the Highlights and Low Points of the Court's Decision . Move to Amend . January 22, 2010 . June 21, 2019 .
  7. Web site: 8 Words That Could Save Our Country . AlterNet . April 30, 2010 . June 21, 2019 .
  8. Web site: Corporations Are Not People . In These Times . September 19, 2011 . June 21, 2019 .
  9. Web site: WIUTA - Home . 2023-10-25 . Wisconsin United To Amend . en-US.
  10. Web site: Colorado Corporate Contributions Amendment, Amendment 65. Ballotpedia . July 17, 2019.
  11. Web site: Montana Corporate Contributions Initiative, I-166 . Ballotpedia . July 17, 2019.
  12. Web site: Progressive Policies Win at the Ballot Box . PR Watch . November 11, 2016 . July 17, 2019.
  13. Web site: Los Angeles votes to end corporate personhood . Rawstory . December 6, 2011 . December 26, 2011 . Dolan, Eric W..
  14. Web site: First ever Democracy Day draws wide array of opinions in Brecksville . Cleveland.com. February 27, 2013. July 9, 2019. Robert Rozboril.
  15. Web site: Biennial Democracy Day Event . Cleveland City Council. May 9, 2019. July 9, 2019.
  16. Web site: Toledoans air concerns over money in politics on Democracy Day . The Blade. March 13, 2019. July 9, 2019. David Patch.
  17. Web site: Wisconsin Ready to Amend . October 25, 2023 . Wisconsin United to Amend.
  18. Devin Henry (7/14/14) Senate vs. Citizens United: Democrats push campaign finance constitutional amendment MinnPost Archive URL.
  19. Web site: http://www.duhc.org/page/staff-bios . Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County . June 21, 2019 .
  20. Michael Gillespie (Jan/Feb 2011). "David Cobb Speaks at WILPF-DM Awards Banquet". The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Vol 30. Iss 1: p 60.
  21. Web site: About POCLAD.
  22. Riki Ott (Autumn 2012). "Citizens united against Citizens United: A movement is building to amend the Constitution". Earth Island Journal Vol 27. Iss. 3. pp. 40,42.
  23. Matthew Rothschild (April 2010). "Corporations Aren't Persons: Amend the Constitution". The Progressive Vol 74. Iss 4.: pp. 16,18-20.
  24. Ahmad, Meher; DiNovella, Elizabeth. "We, the People". The Progressive Vol 76. Iss. 4: pp. 8-9.
  25. Web site: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Claims Money is Not Speech . ABC News . February 12, 2013 . July 17, 2019 .
  26. Web site: IPPN . www.ippn.org . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070707125031/http://www.ippn.org/article.php?ID=people.html . 7 July 2007 . dead.
  27. Web site: Corporations Are People, Too . In These Times . March 2, 2010 . June 21, 2019 .
  28. Web site: Taking a stand against Exxon . Davis Enterprise . April 2, 2010 . June 21, 2019 .
  29. Web site: Issue Committee Chairs | WILPF. 12 August 2012 .
  30. News: Katz-Fishman . Walta . Scott . Jerome . United States polarising - inequality and injustice escalating . July 17, 2019 . Al Jazeera . December 4, 2014.
  31. Web site: Bonham . Laura . Corporate Power on Full Display at Dem and GOP Conventions . Common Dreams . July 17, 2019.
  32. Web site: Houston Peace and Justice Center . Houston Peace and Justice Center.
  33. Web site: Pacifica Foundation .
  34. Web site: Agosto . Maria . The Sport of Tax Evasion: Follow the Trillions (If You Can) . Occupy.com . 6 September 2013 . July 17, 2019.

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