PRESS RELEASE

For release on January 21, 2025

Contacts: Greg Coleridge, [email protected], 216-255-21840 | Cole Bennett, [email protected], 404-783-1362

Reversing Citizens United isn’t enough
National group calls for “Legalizing Democracy” by abolishing “corporate personhood” and money defined as free speech on 15th anniversary of Supreme Court decision

Move to Amend is calling for an intensive congressional and grassroots effort to pass a constitutional amendment to end corporate constitutional rights and the doctrine that money spent in elections equals free speech.

The group, a national coalition of hundreds of endorsing organizations and over one half-million supporters, was launched on January 21, 2010; the same day that the Supreme Court ruled on the Citizens United v FEC decision that expanded the constitutional rights of corporations and wealthy individuals to spend money to influence elections. The ruling, widely regarded as one of the most detrimental rulings in American history, has resulted in an unprecedented flood of special interest money from corporate entities and the ultra-wealthy into political campaigns, fundamentally altering the landscape of U.S. elections and politics.

As Congress convened on January 3, 2025, and Inauguration Day unfolds today, January 20, we are reminded of the glaring divide in this country. The inauguration, while presented as a moment of unity and power, is ultimately a sham—a spectacle where corporate interests and billionaires remain in control, pushing policies that serve the wealthiest few rather than the needs of the many.

Learn How You Can Help!

Affiliate Spotlight: Celebrating Local Action and Impact

In this month’s Affiliate Spotlight, we’re thrilled to highlight the incredible work being done by our affiliates across the country. Their dedication and creativity inspire us all to continue building a people-powered movement for systemic change.

Building People Power in 2025: A New Year, A Renewed Fight!

As we step into 2025, we extend our warmest wishes for a year of resilience, solidarity, and transformative change. All things considered, we know that the road ahead is challenging, with the corporate takeover of our political system continuing to erode the very foundations of people-centered governance. The specter of Insurrection 2.0 has cast a long shadow, but it only reinforces the urgency of our mission: to fight for a democracy that truly serves We the People.

🕛We’re so close – will you help us reach the finish line? ☄️

We don't have to tell you about the corrupting influence of money in elections, or the power corporations yield in our Democracy.

You're already acutely aware that whatever amount of Democracy we've ever had is ever-increasingly imperiled.  

But are you also aware that Move to Amend is the only anti-corruption organization campaigning to end corporate rule and big money in elections -- which together have caused massive harms to people, places, the planet and our elections?

🤔Questions: 

• If your house is on fire, should a bucket be used to extinguish it instead of one or more fire hoses?
• If thirty doses of a medicine are required to treat a serious illness, should your doctor only prescribe ten?
• If all your car brakes fail, should only one be repaired for maximum safety?

Recent headlines have been grappling with the startling public reaction to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Articles like Economic Times’ ““Little sympathy: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's death becomes a meme and source of ridicule on social media; here's the reason why”” and USA Today’s “The UnitedHealthcare CEO was killed and many had little sympathy. Why?”?” reflect a grim reality: a widespread disillusionment with the healthcare-for-profit system and its devastating impact on everyday lives.

The alleged shooter, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione's, , has pled not guilty to multiple federal charges, including murder. Legal experts are speculating that the case could face “the highest risk” of jury nullification, as public sentiment appears to sympathize more with the accused than the victim. This reaction highlights a critical truth: while the act of violence is indefensible, the misery caused by the for-profit healthcare industry is rooted not in the actions of any one CEO, but in a system of corporate rule that prioritizes profit over people.

The misery so many people suffer at the source of the Healthcare-for-profit Industry is corporate personhood, not from an errant CEO.

The Root of the Problem: Corporate Constitutional Rights

At the heart of this system is the doctrine of corporate personhood, which grants corporations constitutional rights originally intended for human beings. This, combined with the notion of money equaling free speech, has allowed corporations to hijack our political system, undermining free and fair elections, and turning governance into a mechanism for advancing corporate interests. The result? A healthcare system that treats human lives as commodities.

We recently examined the outsized political influence of the healthcare industry in our piece, “Political Influence of the Healthcare Industry.” We laid out why, despite overwhelming public support for a universal healthcare system, corporate interests continue to block progress. 

Massive corporate profits!

We’re reaching the final stretch of 2024, and we need your help to finish strong. Watch this powerful testimonial video from Move to Amend co-director Greg Coleridge, where he shares why he’s passionate about our mission and why the We the People Amendment is more crucial than ever.

Project 2025, as envisioned by the Heritage Foundation and supporters in the incoming Trump Administration, calls for concentrating the executive branch under the complete control of the U.S. president. Its extreme reactionary policy recommendations in the 900-page plan address nearly every aspect of American life. At much greater risk are basic civil liberties, the rule of law, separation of powers, separation of church and state and other threats to the U.S. Constitution.

We have our own Project 2025

It’s a plan with one primary goal: to increase our efforts to build a powerful and authentically inclusive and democratic people’s movement for an authentic democracy – for the very first time. It’s a movement that must be independent from the influence of billionaires, corporations, big foundations, political parties and government. 

2024 has been a major challenge for Move to Amend with all the attention, energy and resources directed toward the November election. However, your continued interest, direct involvement and financial support allowed us to continue focusing on the systemic goal of ending the corrupting, unjust and environmental catastrophic effects of undue corporate power by amending the Constitution to establish that only human beings, not corporations, are constitutional “persons” and that money raised and spent in elections is not free speech and can be regulated.