Citizens United v. FEC


Passed 12/6/2011

WHEREAS the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission rolled back legal restrictions on corporate spending in the electoral process, allowing unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions, thereby threatening the voices of “We the People” and the very foundation of our democracy, and

WHEREAS corporations are not mentioned in the constitution, and The People have never granted constitutional rights to corporations, nor have We decreed that Corporations have authority that exceeds the authority of “We the People,” and the “Citizens United” decision supersedes state and local efforts to regulate corporate activity in their elections,

WHEREAS money affects the quality and quantity of speech and is not, in itself, speech; and allowing corporations with great wealth to use it as speech effectively drowns out the protected free speech of the People in our diverse society,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DPSFV) supports a Constitutional Amendment and/or other legislative actions clarifying that the expenditure of corporate money to influence political and electoral processes is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DPSFV will forward this resolution to the California Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, our local Congressional Delegation, the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor, and the President of the United States.