Restoring the Dream of Democracy: A Public Conversation with Senator Jamie Eldridge and Jon Bonifaz, Director of Free Speech for People

Senator Eldridge, Representative Cory Atkins, and Atty. Jon Bonifaz will hold a public conversation about measures they have taken in response to the US Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which overturned over 100 years of rulings and said that corporations have first amendment rights and can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. This decision has opened the way for countless anonymous organizations with large amounts of money to contribute unlimited funds in an election cycle. The People's right to free speech is severely curtailed by this ruling. The ruling has already heavily influenced the 2010 election cycle, and as candidates gear up for the 2012 elections, it will only drown out more severely the people's one-person, one-vote voice.  Please come and hear about legislation Jamie Eldridge has filed and measures Attorney Bonifaz is taking to restore the People's free speech rights; and join in on the conversation about what YOU as a citizen can do to respond to this democracy-damaging ruling!

John Bonifaz is a 1999 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. The Foundation award stated: "Bonifaz,
a public interest lawyer, uses innovative litigation to reexamine campaign finance reform arguments typically
debated on first amendment grounds. Through the National Voting Rights Institute, an organization he founded,
Bonifaz recasts the legal arguments to focus on fourteenth amendment protections, challenging the relationship
between money and politics."

State Senator Jamie Eldridge has served as State Senator for the Middlesex and Worcester district since January
2009. Previously, Jamie served as State Representative for the 37th Middlesex district, having been elected in
November 2002 as the only Clean Elections candidate to public office in Massachusetts history.

Sponsored by:
Progressive Democrats of America CD5 (PDA) and the Carlisle Democratic Town Committee