Citizens United to End Political Bribery (Working Group)

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Overview

Citizens United to End Political Bribery (CUEPB) is a Working Group pursuing the goal of getting corporate money out of politics.  We focus on realistic actions in Massachusetts, but also extend our efforts to nationwide politics.  This wiki page serves to collect information and discuss ideas before bringing proposals to Occupy Boston General Assembly.  Everything here should be considered a draft, unless conspicuously labeled otherwise.  To participate, come to one of our scheduled meetings or comment on the discussion tab for a page.  You can also edit a page, but we'd like to know who's involved, so please introduce yourself.

  • Contact us at citizensunited@occupyboston.org
  • Sign up to join our email list by clicking here. 
  • Visit our website here for a list of groups, events, and actions.

Main Events on January 20-21

On the January 20–21 anniversary of the Citizens United decision,  a wide coalition of groups will stand together for GETTING MONEY OUT OF POLITCS! Here is a list of events taking place on those dates

Friday January 20 | Occupy the Courts | Federal Courthouse | 12:45pm - 2pm

Friday January 20 | Rally to Unite Citizens for Democracy | St. Pauls Cathedral | 4pm - 8pm

  • The schedule below is a preliminary idea.  Perhaps the leader of each breakout group should speak for 5-10 minutes?
    • 4:00 - 4:10 - Welcoming address and introduction
    • 4:10 - 4:30 - Cory Atkins Opens
    • 4:30 - 4:50 - John Bonifaz Speaks
    • 4:50 - 6:00 - Description of different break-out groups
    • 4:45 - 6:00 - Break out group discussions
    • 6:00 - 6:30 - Panel Discussion
    • 6:30 - 7:10 - Break-out Group Discussions
    • 7:10 - 7:40 - Break-out Group Presentations
    • 7:40 - 8:00 - Jamie Eldridge - Closing Addess
    • Event to involve lectures and break out sessions

Saturday, January 21 | Summit to Unite Citizens for Democracy | location to be determined | 10pm - 4pm

  • 10:00 - 10:15 - Welcome Address and Introduction
  • 10:15 - 10:45 - Lawrence Lessig'e'
  • 3:00 - 4:00     - Grace Ross (lobbying)
  • Speakers to include Lawrence Lessig (~10:30am), Jules Levine, Donna Palermino, Patrick Frank, Pam Wilmot, and Grace Ross (to close the day)
  • Event to involve lectures, panel discussions and break-out sessions.
  • Participating Groups for the Rally and Summit Include
    • Boston Amendment Group
    • Coffee Party in Boston
    • Common Cause
    • Dollars and Cents
    • Free Speech For People
    • League of Women Voters of MA 
    • Massachusetts Nurses Association
    • MassVote 
    • Move to Amend
    • Occupy Boston
    • Public Citizen
    • Service Employees International Unition (SEIU Local 615)

Meetings:

January 11 - Planning for January 20/21 Rally and Summit for Uniting Citizens for Democracy

At BU Law School 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 920B.  Map.

Proposed Agenda (Please Edit!)

    • 30 minutes (at least) to get goals 
  • 30 minutes for break-up groups for people with similar goals together


  • 60 minutes - each group in attendance gets 5 minutes to introduce themselves and what they are planning.  Please be prepared to discuss your goals for the Summit.  Groups in attendence will be
    • Move to Amend (yes)
    • Free Speech for People (maybe)
    • ... who else? ...
  • 90 minutes - planning of events (may need more time?) - Andy will bring his computer and use powerpoint to help manage this discussion 
    • What are the goals for 20th/21st event (15 minutes)
      • Get media attention
      • Bring people together
      • Brainstorm our next action collective action
      • Develop a roadmap of issues and figure out who is addressing what and how.  Make sure we work together effectively
        • Constitutional Amendment for corporate personhood
        • Constitutional Amendment (or laws) for limiting money in politics
        • Public financing of elections
        • Closing the revolving door between politics and industy
        • Ending legalized bribery and lobbying corruption
        • ...
    • Discuss Media Strategy (15 minutes)
    • Discuss materials to have on hand (10 minutes)
    • Propose that Occupy Boston Citizens United group moderate both events (5 minutes)
    • Discuss plan for Friday | 4pm-8pm | St. Paul's Church (10 minutes)
      • See above event description for speakers list
    • Discuss plan for Saturday | 10am-4pm | location to be determined (20 minutes)
      • See above event description for speakers list
      • Lots of working groups (but what should they be?  What do we hope to get out of them?)
        • Brainstorming the next big action (something related to S772?)
        • Developing a roadmap for everything (no one action will fix our system)
        • Each element of advancing reform can have it's own group (ending corporate personhood, reducing money in electiions, closing revolving door, fixing lobbying system, etc.)

Minutes from Previous Meetings

Background Information:

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Opinion

  • The minority dissenting opinion quoted at this link gives arguments against the Supreme Court's majority opinion. After a summary, the opinion continues (not quoted here,) describing in detail the laws and rulings related to corporate personhood.
  • Under U.S. law, a corporation is a "corporate veil," protecting individuals inside a company from being prosecuted for the actions of the business. In 1886 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations are entitled to many rights accorded to citizens, in its decision of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Rail Road Co.
  • In 1907 Congress passed the Tillman Act, prohibiting corporations from donating money directly to national political campaigns. This still holds, but in January 2010 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 (in Citizens United v. FEC) that corporations can spend unlimited amounts on political advertisements as long as they don't directly coordinate that spending with an actual candidate.
  • The Citizens United v. FEC decision invalidated protections that had existed in Massachusetts General Law, according to a March, 2010 ruling of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Many bills are now being introduced in Massachusetts and at the federal level to counteract the wide effects of last year's Supreme Court decision by restricting corporate money from influencing politics.

Campaign Finance Legislation (passed and pending)

  • Click here for a list of legislation

Additional Resources




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