Petition For Presentation to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Houston
WHEREAS, corporations are entirely human-made legal entities created by express permission of the people and are subject to regulation by the people, and;
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-governance, and;
WHEREAS, the present system of political campaign financing is dramatically diluting the voice of Americans who do not control large financial resources that are wielded to influence political campaign advertising, and;
WHEREAS, only human beings, not corporations, unions, or other legal entities are endowed with constitutional rights, and
WHEREAS, money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech or the freedom of the press.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Houston, Texas, stands to defend our representational democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate power and money.
We hereby support Move to Amend's Proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads as follows:
Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed and publicly available both electronically and in print.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this ____ day of _______________, 201__
APPROVED this ____ day of ___________________, 201__
___________________________________
Mayor of the City of Houston, Texas
WHEREAS, corporations are entirely human-made legal entities created by express permission of the people and are subject to regulation by the people, and;
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-governance, and;
WHEREAS, the present system of political campaign financing is dramatically diluting the voice of Americans who do not control large financial resources that are wielded to influence political campaign advertising, and;
WHEREAS, only human beings, not corporations, unions, or other legal entities are endowed with constitutional rights, and
WHEREAS, money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech or the freedom of the press.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Houston, Texas, stands to defend our representational democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate power and money.
We hereby support Move to Amend's Proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads as follows:
Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed and publicly available both electronically and in print.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this ____ day of _______________, 201__
APPROVED this ____ day of ___________________, 201__
___________________________________
Mayor of the City of Houston, Texas