Forum to Discuss Abolishing Corporate Personhood

Two representatives of Move to Amend will lead a community meeting in Newbury Park on Saturday, Oct. 18 to advance the group’s goal of amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood.

Spokesperson Margaret Koster and program coordinator Jessica Munger will speak at a Community Forum at 7:30 p.m. at the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 3327 Old Conejo Road. Move to Amend is a national partnership of 350,000 people and hundreds of organizations seeking to undo the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to independently support political causes.

The court ruled that corporations, unions and associations have freedom of speech rights under the First Amendment and cannot be barred from buying ads on their own to support candidates and political parties. Although corporations are still barred from directly contributing to candidates and parties, the decision opened the door to massive corporate political spending. Move to Amend and other groups say the court ruling is a grave threat to government of, by and for the people.

Move to Amend is gathering signatures for a petition that states: We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other related cases, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

The Community Forum presentation is part of a Move to Amend barnstorming tour of California in October that includes historical perspective on democracy and a call to action, informing people on how they can help abolish corporate personhood.

The forum is free and open to the public; donations will be accepted. For information, visit forum.cvuuf.org or call (805) 374-9818.