Resolutions

Triangle Move to Amend is asking area municipalities to pass a resolution affirming that corporations are not people and money is not speech. See below for the status of this campaign in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, Durham, Raleigh, and Apex/Cary. There is also a resolution in the state legislature that, if passed, would call on the U.S. Congress to pass a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United. Some local organizations have passed resolutions as well. Click here for news on national Move to Amend progress.

Contact us if you are interested in presenting a similar resolution to your municipal government or other organization. Or click here to sign a petition as an individual.

Chapel Hill Town Council
On Monday, January 9, 2012, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously passed a resolution.

Text of the resolution
Press release sent out in advance of the Town Council vote

Carrboro Board of Aldermen
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a resolution. Five Triangle Move to Amend members attended the meeting, and Bryan Gaston spoke in support of the resolution.

Text of the resolution
Press release distributed before the vote
WCHL coverage of the vote, including a 3 1/2-minute audio clip of Bryan’s testimony and the board’s vote

Orange County Board of Commissioners
The Commissioners received and tabled our proposed resolution at their meeting on January 24, 2012. After that meeting, we sent them a follow-up letter along with Sally Goerner’s article on how corporate personhood hurts small business.

At their meeting on February 21, the commissioners joined their counterparts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and unanimously passed a resolution calling for a Constitutional Amendment to make it clear that corporations are not people and that money is not speech.

The final resolution, drafted by Commissioner Steve Yuhasz, is expressed in less fervent terms than the resolution we originally submitted but is every bit as effective.

Text of the proposed resolution
Text of the final resolution

For more information, contact Pete Brown.

Apex/Cary

Stacie Borello reports the initial organizing meeting for bringing resolutions against Citizens United to the Apex and Cary city councils:

When: Tues., March 26, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Where: Eva Perry Library – 2100 Shepherds Vineyard Drive, Apex, NC (off of Hwy 64)
Who: Anyone who wants to be involved in fighting “corporate personhood”

Participation from residents of Apex and Cary is important – but supporters from other areas can help as well. We’ll cover the basics of organizing to present a resolution and seek volunteers to fill roles, such as circulating petitions, publicizing the effort, lobbying council members, etc.

Facebook event for the meeting

Looking forward to seeing you there! (If you can’t attend on 3/26 but still want to help, please email Stacie Borello or call her at 919-996-9208.

Raleigh City Council

The Raleigh Action Collective and NC Voters for Clean Elections have successfully lobbied the Raleigh City Council for a resolution to overturn Citizens United.

On July 3, 2012, the Council voted 6-2 to approve a resolution introduced by Councillor Thomas Crowder calling for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling.

Read more here. The exact wording of the resolution will be posted here soon.

History of the Raleigh Campaign

The group held a community forum Wed., April 25 at Cameron Village Library to build a coalition of local organizations to support the resolution. More about that event.

Read draft resolution originally proposed to the Council.

Campaign coordinator Stacie Borello’s open letter to the City Council.

Online petition.

For more information on the Raleigh campaign, email Stacie Borrello..

Durham
The Durham efforts are being organized by Occupy Durham’s Committee to End Corporate Personhood.

Local Organizations
Occupy Durham and Occupy Chapel Hill have both passed “Abolish Corporate Personhood” resolutions. They will be taking the resolution to the General Assembly of Occupy NC in Raleigh today (Sat., Feb. 25).

The Orange County Democratic Party passed a Move to Amend resolution on January 23, 2012. They also agreed to forward it on to the State Executive Committee for the Democratic Party. The vote was semi-unanimous (2 to about 50). The two no votes were mostly concerned that wording of the resolution wasn’t strong enough and didn’t hit hard enough on the corruption implications of corporate personhood.

Around the Country
Move to Amend maintains a map of towns, cities, states, and other entities that have passed resolutions and amendments opposing corporate personhood.

Several states have passed resolutions calling for a consitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

Hawaii was the first state to formally call for an amendment, in April 2010. On Feb. 11, 2012, New Mexico became the second state in the nation to officially call for a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United. New Mexico’s state Senate voted for the bill, joining the state House, which had acted the week before that. Read more about the New Mexico effort in this press release from Common Cause.

Rhode Island and  Vermont have followed suit. Four down, thirty-four to go! (Thirty-eight states plus two-thirds of Congress are needed to amend the Constitution.) Read about the resolution submitted on May 30, 2012 to North Carolina’s legislature.

Here are some other highlights from around the country:

  • The state senates of Alaska and Iowa have passed resolutions along similar lines.

  • The state house of California has also passed a resolution.

  • Massachusetts’ state legislature is also working on a resolution.

  • Montana is gearing up to put a measure supporting an amendment before the voters on the general election ballot in November 2012.

  • A state assembly committee in New York is working on a resolution as well.

  • 22 state Attorneys General, including Roy Cooper of North Carolina, recently signed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the Citizens United ruling and to uphold a century-old Montana law barring corporate money in elections.