In the Courts | Follow the $ | Public Officials | Constitutional Amendments | State and Local Support | Media | Polling | Toolkits | Frequently Asked Questions | Other | Adding Resources

 

 

• McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. (2014) | SCOTUSblog
• Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, 564 U.S. (2011) | SCOTUSblog
• Speechnow.org v. FEC, 599 F.3d 686 (2010) | SCOTUSblog
• Citizens United v. FEC, 588 U.S. 310 (2010) | SCOTUSblog
• Davis v. FEC, 554 U.S. 724 (2008) | SCOTUSblog
• Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC, 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Republican Nat’l Comm v. FEC, 487 F. Supp. 280, 286 (S.D.N.Y. 1980)
• Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)

 

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• Federal Election Commission, Campaign finance data
• National Institute on Money in State Politics, FollowTheMoney.org
• OpenSecrets.org by the Center for Responsive Politics, Election Overview
• OpenSecrets.org by the Center for Responsive Politics, Outside Spending
• OpenSecrets.org by the Center for Responsive Politics, Politicians & Elections
• ProPublica, FEC Itemizer: Browse Federal Campaign Finance Filings
• The Center for Public Integrity, Buying of the President tracks the candidates, political committees, and nonprofits that made the 2016 presidential election the most expensive in history.
• November 2018 by Public Citizen: Just 56 Megadonors Funnel Nearly Half a Billion Dollars to Super PACs
• December 2016 by the Corporate Reform Coalition: Despite Unusual Election Season Outside Special Interests Still Dominated
• October 2015 by The Center for Public Integrity: Liz Essley Whyte and Ashley Balcerzak show how outside groups are playing a bigger role in 2015 state elections. 2015 state ad wars tracker.
• September 2015 by OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics: Robert Maguire and Will Tucker show how Super PACs and dark money groups are spending far more than in ’12 cycle.
• September 2014 by The Center for Public Integrity: Rachel Baye, Reity O’Brien, Kytja Weir, and Ben Wieder show how non-candidate spending has increased in state elections.
• November 2012 by US PIRG and Demos: Blair Bowie and Adam Lioz show how big outside spenders have drowned out small contributions.

 

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• Members of Congress on the amendment strategy, with contact information
• Search by zip code for even more public official contact information
• In its “Across the Aisle” coverage, Free Speech for People takes a look at the growing transpartisan movement that is calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and reclaim democracy for “we the people.” Blog. Reports: 2013, 2014.

 

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• Money in politics constitutional amendments introduced in Congress, from today back to Citizens United and beyond

 

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• List of actions showing state and local support for constitutional remedies
• Sample resolution language
• Map: Citizens United – Resolutions and Ballot Initiatives
• Map: Move to Amend
• November 2014 by Move to Amend: Americans Ready to Amend the Constitution.

 

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• Articles, editorials, letters to the editor, and op-eds on the call for constitutional remedies to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and related cases
• Search by zip code for local paper contact information

 

Multimedia

 

• 5/10/16 American Promise A 28th Amendment to Restore the American Promise
• 11/22/14 The Huffington Post Activist Comics: Constitutional Amendment by John Wellington Ennis
• 10/8/13 Public Interest Pictures Supreme Court Rally: McCutcheon v. FEC by John Wellington Ennis
• 4/5/12 Democracy Now 11 Attorneys General Support Amendment to Overturn Citizens United
• 2/25/11 The Story of Stuff Project The Story of Citizens United v. FEC

 

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• May 2018 by Voice Of the People and the University of Maryland School of Public Policy’s Program for Public Consultation: “The most significant change—favored by 75% (Republicans 66%, Democrats 85%)—was a [c]onstitutional amendment that would allow Congress and the states to write campaign finance laws that regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money to influence elections and to distinguish between people and corporations. This would effectively supersede the ‘Citizens United’ decision and allow legislators to restrict or prohibit corporations and other organizations from spending money to influence elections.” Article.
• September 2015 by Selzer & Company on behalf of Bloomberg Politics: “Unhappiness with the 2010 decision cuts across demographic and partisan and ideological lines. Although the ruling was fashioned by the court’s conservative majority, Republicans oppose Citizens United 80 percent to 18 percent, according to the poll. Democrats oppose 83 percent to 13 percent, and independents, 71 percent to 22 percent. Among self-described liberals, conservatives, and moderates, 80 percent say the decision should be overturned.” Article. Further: “Among other issues polled, campaign finance reform garnered some of the strongest support among Democrats and Republicans. Nearly nine in 10 Americans want campaign finance rules changed so that the wealthy don’t have more influence than those without money.” Article.
• June 2015 by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News: “Asked to rank their top concerns about the upcoming presidential election, one-third of Americans pointed to the sway that companies and wealthy individuals may have over the outcome, more than for any of five other issues tested.” Article.
• May 2015 by The New York Times and CBS News: “Americans of both parties fundamentally reject the regime of untrammeled money in elections made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other court decisions and now favor a sweeping overhaul of how political campaigns are financed.” Article. Poll.
• July 2014 by Democracy Corps on behalf of Every Voice: “There is overwhelming cross-partisan support of a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United . . . Voters support such an amendment by an overwhelming 73 to 24 percent margin, including majorities in even the reddest states.”
• November 2013 by MFour Market Research and Tulchin Research on behalf of Represent.Us: More than seven in ten voters believe that our election system is “biased in favor of the candidate with the most money,” and more than nine in ten think that “it is important that ‘our elected leaders reduce the influence of money in political elections.'”
• May/June 2013 by Hart Research Associates and American Viewpoint on behalf of the Committee for Economic Development: “87% [of business executives] say the campaign finance system needs major reforms or a complete overhaul.”
• April 2013 by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center on behalf of the New Hampshire Coalition for Open Democracy, Free Speech For People, People For the American Way, and Public Citizen: “More than two-thirds of New Hampshire adults . . . think there should be an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would limit campaign contributions and spending.”
• April 2012 by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law: “[T]he 2012 election cycle has given rise to significant, bipartisan fears of corruption and heightened distrust in government.”
• January 2012 by The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press: “[A]mong those who have heard about [Citizens United], comparably wide majorities in each [party] say it is having a negative effect on the campaign this year.”
• December 2011/January 2012 by Lake Research Partners for the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance, and Small Business Majority: “Small business owners view [Citizens United] as bad for small business.”

 

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• #GetMoneyOut action site, including information, resources, and ways to get involved in the fight to build a democracy where the size of your wallet does not determine the strength of your voice in our government and where all citizens have an equal voice in deciding who represents them, including by constitutional amendment
• American Promise action site, including ways to get involved in restoring democracy with the 28th Amendment: from your computer, in your home, and in your community.
• Democracy For All Amendment – Activist Toolkit, including talking points and ways to get involved that are broadly applicable to the amendment movement
• Money Out, Voters In: A Guide to Democratic Reform, including constitutional amendment advocacy tools among a broad range of “money out, voters in” reforms
• Amending the Constitution for Government Of, By, and For The People

 

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Question: Why have so many different constitutional amendments been proposed? Wouldn’t it be better if everyone were pressing for the same language?

Answer: Right now, as the movement builds for taking the “for sale” sign off of our democracy, one of the most important things we can do is to help educate and mobilize our friends and neighbors — and elected officials — to get involved and take a stand. There are a lot of really good ideas about the best way to amend the Constitution, and continued debate and dialogue on that and other important issues will only help build the momentum. So right now we believe it’s important to focus on our common agreement that America works best when our government is of, by and for the people and that to achieve that end we must amend the Constitution.

 

Question: What is the process for amending the Constitution?

Answer: An amendment has to be proposed either by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or else by a constitutional convention convened when the legislatures of 2/3 of the states so request. The amendment has to be ratified either by the legislatures of 3/4 of the states, or by conventions in 3/4 of the states, depending on which means of ratification Congress proposes. All of the amendments to the Constitution, of which there are now 27, were proposed by Congress, and all but one were ratified by state legislatures. The convention route has never been used for proposing an amendment, and was used only once for ratifying an amendment (the 21st, which eliminated Prohibition).

 

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Here are some more materials from “money out, voters in” allies:

 

• 5/22/18 Open Democracy Action Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell: Republican Voters Want You to Fix The System
• 5/21/18 Democracy 21 25 Organizations Endorse Essential Democracy Reforms Announced Today by Congressional Leaders
• 12/4/17 American Promise American Promise Launches Project To Write And Vet The 28th Amendment
• 1/23/17 Public Citizen Reform Groups Applaud Reintroduction of the Democracy for All Constitutional Amendment
• 12/1/16 Center for American Progress Americans Demand Democracy at the Polls by Liz Kennedy and Danielle Root
• 2/8/16 People For the American Way PFAW and Allies Release Report on Money in Politics Reform Victories Since Citizens United
• 7/23/15 People For the American Way PFAW and Allies Release Money in Politics Reform Agenda for 2016 Candidates. Allies’ 10/7/15 Letter RE: Agenda in Debate.
• 6/11/15 Public Citizen Pro-Democracy Groups Celebrate Attorney General Approval of Ballot Initiative to Clean Up Elections
• 1/21/15 Democracy Initiative Democracy Initiative Organizations Release Statements on the 5th Anniversary of Citizens United Urging Reform
• 1/20/15 People For the American Way On Eve of Fifth Anniversary of Citizens United, Advocates Reach 5 Million Signatures Calling to Overturn Decision
• 1/20/15 People For the American Way PFAW Edit Memo: The Growing Movement to Defend Democracy Five Years After Citizens United by Marge Baker
• 1/15/15 Demos Top 5 Ways Citizens United Harms Democracy & Top 5 Ways We’re Fighting to Take Democracy Back by Liz Kennedy
• 1/15/15 Food & Water Watch Citizens United 101 by Briana Kerensky and Mitch Jones
• 1/6/15 The Hill Punching above his weight by Megan R. Wilson
• 12/30/14 Atlanta Progressive News APN Releases Atlanta Council Scorecard for 2014 Year-End by Matthew Charles Cardinale
• 12/11/14 Demos Stacked Deck: How the Bias in Our Big Money Political System Undermines Racial Equality by Adam Lioz
• 12/2/14 Common Cause Coalition letter on constitutional amendment to House of Representatives
• 9/16/14 People For the American Way Edit Memo: Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Decisions Like Citizens United Debated in U.S. Senate, 55 Senators in Support by Marge Baker
• 9/11/14 Democracy Initiative Democracy Initiative Partners and Allies Release Statements Following Senate Vote on Democracy for All Amendment
• 9/10/14 Media Matters for America NRO Misinforms On Money In Politics And Proposed Citizens United Amendment by Meagan Hatcher-Mays
• 9/9/14 Daily Kos Three million petition signatures to overturn Citizens United delivered to Congress by Carissa Lovelace
• 9/9/14 Public Campaign Senators Speak out on the #Democracy4All Amendment
• 9/8/14 Democracy Initiative Democracy Initiative Organizations Release Statements in Support of Democracy for All Constitutional Amendment
• 9/4/14 Progress Illinois Illinoisans Urge Kirk To Support Amendment That Would Curb Citizens United
• 9/3/14 People For the American Way Groups Ramp Up Pressure on Key Senators Ahead of Citizens United Vote

 

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