US States Attack Corporate Personhood

Written by Ken Burridge on 13 April 2012

Vermont joins a list of new states and towns that now echo one of the Occupy Movement’s mantras and attempt to make their state the first to end Corporate dominance of the US politics by calling for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s ‘Citizens United’ decision that has allowed for unlimited and secret campaign spending by corporations in US elections.

Vermont joins those wishing to abolish Corporate Personhood

The United States Senator for Vermont Bernie Sanders has been championing the idea since December 2011 when he introduced the Saving American Democracy Amendment. The proposal would allow Congress and state lawmakers to impose campaign spending limits not unlike the laws that had previously been in place for the last 100+ years before being overturned US Supreme Court.

According to Bernie Sanders “The people of Vermont and across America are totally disgusted with the huge amounts of money that billionaires and corporations are now throwing into the political process as a result of that misguided decision.”

Voters in 64 Vermont communities have spoken out against the the controversial 2010 Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission court ruling.

The Vermont Senate resolution asks Congress to consider an amendment to clarify that “money is not speech and corporations are not persons under the U.S. Constitution.”

A constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s ‘Citizens United’ decision and it make possible for possible for Congress to limit election-related expenditures by for-profit corporations, nonprofits, unions and individuals could easily take years.

Other groups such as The Eleventh Amendment Movement (TEAM), a non-partisan political action association based in Hawaii, don’t want to wait that long to stop corporate influence in US politics. The group is making the claim that the US Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear a current Montana case, due to the the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution. The Eleventh Amendment was adopted in 1793 and has been used to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions based on individual state’s sovereign immunity. If they are successful it may immediately result in an effective reversal of the Citizens United ruling in some states.

In addition to Vermont eight other states join the Move to Amend Movement
Video 9 states join the fight against Corporate Personhood

Green-Eco-EV News Reporting by Ken Green Burridge

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EV of the Year Judge, independent green journalist, photographer, author and sustainability activist that has published over 1000 articles. Mr Burridge’s travels have taken him to over 30 countries and 300+ major cities. He is originally from the USA, but has been residing in Australia for the last seven years. Connect to Ken Burridge on: Twitter, facebook, Google+, Linked in or website