Author Archives: cavenewt

Saturday, January 21 2012 is the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This is a real opportunity to rachet our activities up a notch. Occupy groups across the country, as well as the Move To Amend organization, are planning to demonstrate in front of Federal courthouses on Friday the 20th.

On our Facebook group page, Margaret suggested a petition urging revocation of Citizens United. What a great idea! Part of the Move To Amend’s strategy is

…using the municipal resolution strategy to build a movement to abolish corporate personhood. “Local resolution campaigns are an opportunity for citizens to speak up and let it be known that we won’t accept the corporate takeover of our government,” said David Cobb, a national spokesperson for Move to Amend. “We urge communities across the country to join the Move to Amend campaign and raise your voices.”

So far the resolution has been passed in many towns and cities, including Los Angeles, Madison Wisconsin, and New York City.

Rather than giving the courthouse people a week’s worth of signatures–if the courthouse is even open on Friday–let’s collect signatures with an eye to presenting them to the Town Council when we propose they pass the resolution. It will also help if we have a good number of supporters there then, so we should plan on doing that several weeks from now.

Here is the Move To Amend press release, the model resolution language, and the text of the proposed amendment.

How about this for our petition:

We, the undersigned, reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United, instead believing that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights. Further, we urge the Jackson Town Council to pass the following resolution:

RESOLVED, the People of Jackson, Wyoming, stand with the Move to Amend campaign and communities across the country to defend democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate power by amending the United States Constitution to establish that:

   1. Only human beings, not corporations, are endowed with constitutional rights, and

   2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the People of Jackson, Wyoming hereby instruct our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to advance this effort.

To sum up: We ask for volunteers to carry the petition and collect signatures and hand out the one-page press release. On Friday 1/20/2012 we demonstrate in front of the federal courthouse, doing more of the same. Until we’re organized with a contingent to attend a Town Council meeting to present our petition and resolution, we keep collecting signatures. Letters to the Editor would be a plus. As would perhaps manning a table one or two days in front of Whole Foods (if they’re amenable) or other sympathetic businesses. Anyone who wants to help or comment on the petition language, please comment, or email occupant at occupy jackson hole dot com.

I see from the Move To Amend site that Wyoming also has a referendum process. Let’s look at that too.

–Colleen