HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-092-10/02/2012-SUPPORTING AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION THAT WOULD LIMIT CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO RESOLUTION 2012-092
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUPPORTING AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION THAT
WOULD LIMIT CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO NATURAL PERSONS
AND WOULD STATE THAT POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES
ARE NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED SPEECH
WHEREAS,the guarantees in the First Amendment—freedom of religion,freedom of speech
and of the press, the right to assemble and petition the government—secure the right of the people
to democratic self-governance; and
WHEREAS, a corporation can exist in perpetuity and in many nations at once and is a legal
entity that has no inherent rights, exists only in contemplation of law, and possesses only those
properties that the charter of its creation confer upon it; and
WHEREAS, a corporation is not a citizen and is not entitled to vote; and
WHEREAS, since 1886, some have asserted that the Fourteenth Amendment, which was
written to extend the rights of the people to the newly-freed slaves, also applies to corporations as
"persons" entitled to "equal protection of the laws;" and
WHEREAS,in the Tillman Act of 1907,Congress rejected the notion that corporations have
the same constitutional rights as natural persons when it prohibited campaign contributions by
corporations in connection with political elections; and
WHEREAS, in 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court, while upholding limits on the size of
campaign contributions that may be made by individuals, ruled that independent political
expenditures constitute a form of speech that is protected by the First Amendment and cannot be
limited; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruled
that special-interest groups, labor unions, and corporations, as well as natural persons, have a right ,
to make independent political expenditures, and that this right is protected by the First Amendment
and cannot be limited; and
WHEREAS, the resulting explosion of independent political expenditures by corporations
and labor organizations, which greatly affect a candidate's chances of winning an election, is
undermining our democracy.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS that the City Council calls for our representatives in the U.S. Congress to propose an
amendment to the Constitution stating that: (1) only human beings, and not corporations or labor
organizations,are entitled to constitutional rights;and(2)money is not speech;therefore,regulating
political contributions and expenditures is not equivalent to limiting political speech.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins held this
2nd day of October, A.D. 2012.
Attest:
City Clerk cc(p ;pOo