On Tuesday night, the world witnessed 1,400 LAPD officers sweep into the two-month old Occupy Los Angeles encampment and force out about 300 American patriots who were peacefully protesting the corporate takeover of their country. Not long ago, the Los Angeles City Council had taken a different position on Occupy LA, officially endorsing the encampment and its ideals. But, in an about face, L.A. officials' concerns over grass trumped constitutional rights to peaceful assembly for the redress of grievances. It was a sad night for the Occupy movement and for those who care about social and economic justice.
However, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, the L.A. city officials have a chance to redeem themselves. The L.A. City Council will vote on a non-binding resolution to endorse amending the U.S. Constitution to establish that only human beings - not corporations - are entitled to constitutional rights, and that money does not equal speech. If passed, Los Angeles will be the first major city in the United States to strike a blow against Big Business and the moneyed elite's subversion of our democracy. A "yes" vote will go a long way toward making amends with the Occupy movement. A "yes" vote will show that the City of Los Angeles is serious about restoring our democracy and the rule of law.
In October, outgoing Council President Eric Garcetti introduced a draft resolution to support overturning Citizens United vs. FEC, the odious and corrupt Supreme Court decision that essentially legalized the corporate bribery of lawmakers. Garcetti made the introduction shortly after activists affiliated with the L.A. chapter of Move to Amend made a presentation on corporate personhood to the South Robertson Neighborhood Council, an official municipal body within Garcetti's district. Perhaps the Occupy movement also influenced Garcetti to act. The draft resolution was handed off to the city's Committee on Intergovernmental Relations for consideration. On Nov. 2, the committee held a public hearing, where more than 100 people filled two rooms at City Hall to demonstrate their support that stronger language be added to the draft resolution to state that only human beings have constitutional rights and that money is not speech. The hearing that day was chaired by Councilmember Richard Alarcon. Thirty-five people made public comments supporting the stronger language. Watch video of the proceedings below:
After the public comment period, Alarcon handed the People its first victory by saying he would refer the draft resolution, with the stronger language added, to the full City Council. Here is the final draft resolution:
Resolution 11-0002-S123 (regarding Citizens United v. FEC).
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, any official position of the City of Los Angeles with respect to legislation, rules, regulations or policies proposed to or pending before a local, state or federal governmental body or agency must have first been adopted in the form of a Resolution by the City Council with the concurrence of the Mayor; and
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”
WHEREAS, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in a 1938 opinion stated, “I do not believe the word ‘person’ in the Fourteenth Amendment includes corporations”; and
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;
WHEREAS, the Citizens decision supersedes state and local efforts to regulate corporate activity in their elections;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that by the adoption of this Motion, the City of Los Angeles hereby includes in its 20 I 1-20 12 Federal and State Legislative Programs SUPPORT for a Constitutional Amendment and other legislative actions ensuring that only human beings, not corporations, are endowed with constitutional rights and that money is not speech, and therefore the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech.
Los Angeles could follow the lead of Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin, Missoula, Montana and Boulder, Colorado, where voters overwhelmingly passed initiatives calling for the end to corporate personhood and the idea that money is speech. If the L.A. City Council, representing a population of 3.8 million, does the same, it could set the stage for the anti-corporate personhood movement to spread even more quickly across the country.
Move to Amend is a national grassroots coalition of organizations, whose mission is to rally support for the constitutional amendment and educate the public on the danger of unfettered corporate power. Move to Amend L.A., founded by L.A. resident Mary Beth Fielder, has gathered support for this effort from numerous organizations around California, including including Common Cause, Occupy LA, LA County Federation of Labor, Physicians for Social Responsibility, The Environmental Caucus of the CA Democratic Party, Southern California Americans for Democratic Action, MoveOn LA, Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains, Democracy for America, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, AFSCME 36, LA Green Machine and California Clean Money Campaign.
On Monday, Dec. 5, MTA-LA will be featured on national television, where Mary Beth has been invited onto MSNBC's the Dylan Ratigan Show.
Hundreds of supporters are needed Dec. 6 to fill the L.A. City Council chambers. A mass demonstration will be held starting at 9:30AM outside City Hall, and the City Council meeting will begin at 10AM. The address is 200 N. Spring St., Room 340. You can RSVP at MTA-LA's web site, http://movetoamendla.org. If you live in the City of Los Angeles, e-mail and call your councilmember. Please join us on Dec. 6, and show the L.A. City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that we want them to get behind the idea that We the People Rule, NOT We the Corporations!