(Public Hearing hosted by Cleveland Heights City Council and held virtually on January 28, 2021)

Almost 100 people virtually attended Cleveland Heights’ 8^th Annual Democracy Day, with 20 people testifying before City Council members Khalil Seren, Michael Ungar, Mary Dunbar, Davida Russell and Melody Hart. Council Vice President Seren presided.

Public testimony began with the announcement that in November 2020, Painesville became the latest Ohio city to vote for a citizens’ initiative calling for a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment they stipulate clearly states that corporate entities do not have the constitutional rights of human beings, and money, not being speech, can be regulated in political campaigns. In addition, the Painesville initiative establishes regular Democracy Day public hearings like the one here and in many other cities, for citizens to testify before their local officials about the need for the amendment.

Published in Anchorage Daily News, 01/29/2021

According to Bloomberg News, President Joe Biden’s winning campaign took in $145 million in so-called “dark money” donations, compared to only $28.4 million such donations spent on behalf of Donald Trump’s losing bid. Biden’s campaign ultimately raised $1.5 billion.

While citizens can donate as much as $2,800 to a candidate in a federal election, that donation is publicly reported on the candidate’s Federal Election Commission Reports. Wealthy individuals who want to donate more (in many cases, a whole lot more) can donate to political nonprofit groups that are under no obligation to release their sources of funding. Those nonprofits can spend to support their preferred candidates or funnel it to candidate’s Super PACs. That’s a whole lot of influence! Million-dollar donors get their phone calls answered and maybe get their favorite legislation passed. Those millions of dollars are able to drown out the voices of regular Americans.

Remember all the post cards from Dan Sullivan and Al Gross? Much of their funding came from outside interests seeking to influence our Alaska elections. The majority of Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with this system. Please call our Congress members and ask them to support campaign finance reform limiting dark money donations.

— Julie Olsen Board Member, Move To Amend Alaska Anchorage

Opinions Anchorage Daily News 01-16-21

Should Alaska enforce its current law limiting contributions to SuperPACs on a par with limits on individual contributions to candidates’ campaigns?

The Alaska Public Offices Commission stopped enforcing that part of the law in 2012 in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, reasoning that since the political expenditures of SuperPACs are independent of candidate campaigns, they do not raise the prospect of corruption. Between 2008 and 2018, unregulated independent expenditures increased from 3% to 36% of campaign spending in our state, and two-thirds of this new money was from Outside donors. Including the ballot measures, independent expenditures for the 2020 election exceeded $23 million! This flood of big money into Alaska elections should alarm every Alaskan. We are sick and tired of Outside interests telling us how to run our affairs, and we are exhausted by the bombardment of negative ads and mailers. This is an issue for Alaskans across the political spectrum, conservatives and liberals alike. Big Union and Big Tech contributions are just as problematic as Big Oil or Koch Industries contributions.

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eYstCiLOOY&t=721s

The annual meeting gives residents a chance to voice their opinion on money in politics and other pressing issues.

Chris Mosby, Patch Staff  |  Posted Fri, Jan 22, 2021

https://patch.com/ohio/clevelandheights/democracy-day-jan-28-cleveland-heights

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Democracy Day will be held Jan. 28 in Cleveland Heights, the city announced.

Eight years ago, voters in Cleveland Heights passed Issue 32, which declared support for a 28th Constitutional Amendment, which would say corporate entities are not people and do not have Constitutional rights. The passed legislation also said money does not qualify as speech and money spent on elections should be regulated.

For Immediate Release:

November 17, 2020.

Contact: Dennis Slotnick, Secretary Toledo Move to Amend

Email: [email protected]   Phone 419-704-1863.

Toledo Council Resolves to Abolish Corporate Personhood

The text of the resolution is HERE 

On Tuesday afternoon Nov 17th, Toledo City Council adopted, by a wide margin, a comprehensive resolution to denounce Corporate personhood and declare that money is not the same a speech.  It is Resolution R 446. The Resolution R 449-20 was brought forth by Council members Komives, McPherson and Whitman.

The most salient part of the Resolution is: Therefore be it resolved that Toledo City Council hereby calls on our Ohio legislators, elected officials, and commissioners, etc. to join the tens of thousands of citizens, grassroots organizations and local governments across the country in the Move to Amend campaign to call for an Amendment to the Constitution to Abolish Corporate Personhood and the doctrine of Money as Speech and return our democracy, our elections, our communities to America’s human persons and to thus claim our sovereign right to self-governance.

Painesville citizens voted on November 3 overwhelmingly (78%) in support of a constitutional amendment to establish that corporations are not people and money is not speech. Painesville becomes the 26th community in Ohio and more than 675 nationwide to pass either a state or local citizen-driven ballot initiative or legislative resolution.

Move to Amend filed an Amicus brief in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of filed last week in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants in Beiersdorfer v. La Rose, et al. (No. 20-3557). The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Ohio’s ballot access scheme for ballot initiatives. Plaintiffs from seven Ohio counties, representing Rights of Nature and corporate control ballot measures, sued the Ohio Secretary of State and Boards of Election officials in trial court for repeatedly keeping binding citizen-proposed laws and charters off the ballot despite satisfying procedural requirements, such as the requisite number of signatures.  

Move to Amend supporters in Ohio and across the nation have used democratic citizen-driven ballot initiatives in several hundred instances as educational and organizing tools to call on Congress to pass a 28th U.S. Constitutional Amendment to abolish corporate constitutional rights and political money in elections as equivalent to First Amendment-protected free speech. This includes 12 Ohio communities -- which have also included a provision mandating annual or biennial municipal public hearings examining the local impact of money in elections and corporate rule.

Read the full Amicus brief here.

On Wednesday October 21, Nick Komives, Toledo council member opened the fourth Annual event.

48 Zoomers were connect by virtual live zoom.  We had 12 presenters and five council members present: Adams, Melden, McPherson, Komives  and Gadus.  Mayor Kapszukiewicz also joined and stayed for the 1 ½ hour duration.  Each presentation averaged only five minutes and were concise, informed and articulate.

View the program at http://toledo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=983

By: Jordan Vandenberge
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/in-depth/painesville-issue-1-grassroots-group-pushing-to-send-message-against-corporate-campaign-contributions

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The Center for Responsive Politics preliminarily projects the total cost of the 2020 election cycle to be $10.8 billion, roughly a 50% increase in spending compared to the 2016 election when adjusted for inflation. If the projections hold true, political spending this election cycle would equal about a third of Ohio's annual budget ($32.4 billion). As large sums of money and political influence have largely become synonymous with one another, a small but passionate group in Painesville is trying to put a stop to it.

On their ballots this November, Painesville voters will decide Issue 1, a proposed ordinance by petition that would declare the need for a constitutional amendment that would clamp down on political contributions by corporations, unions and Super PACs. The ordinance would also declare that money is not the equivalent of speech.

Our election system is broken because of the destructive influences of money in politics and the misguided notion that corporations may claim constitutional rights. With these rights they are able to spend tremendous amounts of “dark” money through organizations and PACS to support the candidates who will serve their needs. And their primary need is profit. While profits are essential in a capitalist system the needs of “we the people” should be primary since we are also a democracy.

Move to Amend Ohio Network Quarterly Education Program

July 18, 2020

Presenters

Debbie Silverstein, Statewide Director of Ohio’s Single Payer Action Network (SPAN), presented a plan to ensure healthcare for all Ohioans. Once enacted, the comprehensive plan will provide far better care for far less costs while providing jobs and training during the transition.  

Markie Miller, Organizer of Toledo for Safe Water, described the improbable journey of a small group of local people to established the first Rights of Nature initiative in the U.S. Backed by the people of Toledo, attracting global attention, and startling corporations resisting the rights of both Nature and of The People, these intrepid citizens continue to fight for Lake Erie.

Video of program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSakLo_trBo&feature=youtu.be

Move to Amend Ohio Network Quarterly Education Program

September 26, 2020

Presenters:

William Phillis - Executive Director - Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding 

Joe Logan, President, Ohio Farmers Union

Video of program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NC14n5nLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bZme9AlpEY&fbclid=IwAR0iYO-eq5NHrCY65zcyMVx_q_r7W5MPCRZMPYh0hHPpEEnPXhd_wXI0xiY

The current health and economic crises are exposing our nation's underlying and long-standing democracy crisis. While public attention focuses on meeting people's basic survival needs, big corporations and the rich are using the pandemic as cover to increase in multiple ways their profits and power.

Resolutions Passed by Localities and States in Support

View full list of Resolutions in Support HERE

Go here for information on how to organize a resolution campaign in your community.

Individuals, organizations and communities support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution containing the two main components of the We the People Amendment: abolishing political money in elections defined as First Amendment-protected free speech and declaring corporations “are not persons” (or equivalent) and/or ending corporate constitutional rights.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals have signed our Motion to Amend petition, hundreds of local, state and national organizations have endorsed our cause, and 709 communities and states have passed public resolutions, as of December, 2022. These resolutions were passed by elected political bodies (i.e. state legislatures, or county/city/town/village councils), residents who voted at Town Hall meetings, or by voters following organized campaigns by Move to Amend supporters across the country to secure sufficient legal signatures on an initiative petition.

Tens of millions of individuals live in the states and localities that have supported amending the Constitution to abolish “money as speech” and corporate constitutional rights.

Passing resolutions in public jurisdictions is a key strategy of Move to Amend in raising public awareness, recruiting and training volunteers, applying political pressure for the We the People Amendment and building organizational power in coalition with others.

These passed resolutions indicate this is not a fringe movement. Nor is it a movement with the singular goal to “end Citizens United” or only focus on getting big money our of elections from the super wealthy. Move to Amend is dedicated to educating and organize to terminate corporations rule. While only one step, it’s a critical one toward the realization of authentic democracy — for the very first time.

We believe that any constitutional amendment must mandate, not be optional or discretionary, that government shall have the authority to determine political campaign contributions and expenditures and that Constitutional rights are the rights exclusively of natural persons.

Constitutional rights were intended solely for human beings. Corporate entities are creations of the state and were intended to be tools to serve the public good.

Move to Amend’s Law & Research Committee has over the past several years published articles, fact sheets, comparison charts and a “White Paper” detailing how never-intended corporate constitutional rights have hijacked our democracy and caused widespread individual, community and environmental harms. Popularly and inaccurately referred to as “corporate personhood,” corporate constitutional rights are rights the Supreme Court invented for corporations under constitutional amendments originally intended solely for human beings.

The research has particularly focused on how corporate constitutional rights include more than the First Amendment free speech rights which have produced a tsunami of corporate political spending. They also include fictional corporate constitutional rights under the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments as well as non money as speech rights under the First Amendment and other parts of the constitution.

Below is a listing of our most recent publications addressing corporate constitutional rights – all of which have been used to educate, advocate and organize.

Introduction to Corporate Constitutional Rights 

Researching Corporate Rule / Corporate Constitutional Rights - an introduction to our work

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THE CASE AGAINST CORPORATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: How Corporate Constitutional Rights Harm You, Your Family, Your Community, Your Environment, and Your Democracy

Part I: Corporate constitutional rights have no legal basis and negatively affect your property rights, environmental protection, worker safety, and community health

Part II: Corporate constitutional rights allowing corporations “right” not to speak and commercial speech “rights” conceal important information from consumers and employees, and expose children to tobacco

Part III: How Corporate Rule Fueled the Climate Crisis

Corporate "Hijack" series

Corporate Hijacking of the 1st Amendment - [political “free speech”] 

Corporate Hijacking of the 1st Amendment - [excluding political free speech] 

Corporate Hijacking of the 4th Amendment 

Corporate Hijacking of the 5th Amendment 

Corporate Hijacking of the 14th Amendment 

Corporate Hijacking of the Contracts Clause 

Corporate Hijacking of the Commerce Clause 

The We the People Amendment: The Constitutional Amendment to Counter Political Corruption and the Corporate Hijacking of the Constitution - "white paper" provided to elected officials and organizational leaders when asking for co-sponsorship or endorsement - updated April 2023

Myths of Harmful Unintended Consequences of Abolishing Corporate Personhood

We the People Amendment comparison series - 118th Session of Congress

Side-by-Side Comparison: Move to Amend's We The People Amendment, (HJR 54) and the Democracy for All Amendment (HJR 13)

Side-by-Side Comparison: Move to Amend's We the People Amendment, (HJR 54) and the Tester Amendment (SJR 3)

We the People Amendment comparison series - 117th Session of Congress

Side-by-Side Comparison: Move to Amend's We The People Amendment, (HJR 48) and the Democracy for All Amendment (HJR 1)

Comparing the For the People Act (HR1) to the We the People Amendment (HJR 48)

We the People Amendment comparison series - 116th Session of Congress

Do We Need a Constitutional Amendment Now that the Green New Deal Has Been Introduced?

Side-by-Side Comparison: Move to Amend's We The People Amendment, (HJR 48) and HJR 57, Rep. Adam Schiff’s Amendment

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OTHER RESOURCES

Josh Hawley's Bill Masks the Real Sources of Corporate Rule (Nov 5, 2023 Common Dreams article by Greg Coleridge)

Why we need the We the People Amendment by Peter Coyote (4 1/2 min video)

The Corporate Weaponization of Government (Feb 15, 2023 Common Dreams article by Greg Coleridge)

The Progenitor of Inequalities—Corporate Personhood vs. Human Beings - Ralph Nader (02/05/2023)

Independence Day and the Imperial CEO (July 5, 2021 column by Daniel JH Greenwood, professor of law at Hofstra University)

For the People Act [H.R.1]

Why Non Profit Corporations Do Not Need (or Have) Constitutional Rights

Big Tech Shouldn’t Be the Arbiter of Our Free Speech Rights: Corporations mustn’t be designated gatekeepers with the power to decide who gets to communicate and who doesn’t (February 26, 2021 Truthout article by Greg Coleridge)

PRESS RELEASE - Oct 21, 2020: Corporate Constitutional Rights Should Be Focus of Last Presidential Debate

PRESS RELEASE - Sept 30, 2020: Climate Crisis-Related Fires Fueled by Corporate Constitutional Rights

Corporate Constitutional Rights are Cancerous to Democracy (July 27, 2020 Common Dreams article by Judy Young and Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap)

VIDEO: Committee member Jan Rein virtual presentation to Sacramento WILPF, June 2020

Corporate Rule Transcends Citizens United - report published to mark the 10th Anniversary of Citizens United Supreme Court decision -- containing many of the above pieces

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Move to Amend's Model Corporate Code Working Group 

Vision Statement