FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2012
Vermont Legislature Calls for a Constitutional Amendment to End Corporate Personhood and Doctrine of Money as Speech
MONTPELIER, VT -- With yesterday's vote in the state house,
Vermont is now the first state to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine
known as "Corporate Personhood" which gives corporations constitutional rights
meant to protect people.
Hawaii and New Mexico have passed resolutions against the Citizens United v.
FEC ruling by the Supreme Court, but the Vermont resolution goes beyond simply
overturning that case and aims to remove corporations from the constitution
altogether and make clear that money is not speech and that campaign spending
and political contributions can be regulated by government.
Support for the resolution in the state legislature comes from a mandate set
forth by Vermont's citizens. Last month 65 town meetings passed similar
resolutions, calling on the legislators in the state to stand up and urging
Congress to send an amendment to the states for ratification.
"Americans of all political persuasions are tired of the big money in politics
and tired of corporations running the country," said David Cobb, spokesperson
for the Move to Amend coalition, a grassroots national organization
spearheading resolution efforts across the country. "We salute the good people
of Vermont for standing up first to make clear that an amendment that addresses
this issue at its core is what's needed now."
While Vermont is the first state to clearly call for an end to corporate
constitutional rights, this is far from the first resolution passed. Nearly
half of the states have seen passage of resolutions at the local level through
city and county councils, and a handful of cities have also passed measures
using the initiative process. This week Salt Lake City, Utah became the latest
city to join the effort when Move to Amend volunteers turned in 11,400
signatures collected in 60 days to qualify a resolution for the ballot in their
town.
"Communities across the country are standing up to show their outrage and to
demand that their legislators pass an amendment to overrule the Court," stated
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Field Organizing Director for Move to Amend.
"We recognize that an amendment is a big task, but Move to Amend's volunteers
are ready to rise to the challenge."
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- SPREAD
THE WORD! Share the graphic in this email on your Facebook and Twitter
page. Or go to our Facebook page and share it directly from there: http://facebook.com/Move2Amend
- DONATE
TO KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING! Make
a donation to Move to Amend to support our grassroots organizing all over
the USA!
START A MTA GROUP! Involve your community in the
movement to amend the Constitution: http://MoveToAmend.org/start-group
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