Move to Amend leader to speak in Naperville
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com October 12, 2012 10:08AM
Updated: November 15, 2012 6:19AM
A leader from the national Move to Amend organization, which is working to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision lifting caps on corporate political donations, will talk about the effort Sunday evening at North Central College in Naperville.
David Cobb, national projects director for Democracy Unlimited, has been touring the country to drum up support for the undertaking. He describes the Citizens United ruling as a set of “court-created, artificial” doctrines.
“These doctrines were created by the Supreme Court. They were never approved by our legislators,” Cobb said. “We think that they are the linchpin that has limited our power as voters.”
Move to Amend is a coalition of more than 230,000 people and organizations working for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifying that its guarantees apply strictly to individual citizens and not to corporations, unions or other groups. At the core of the matter is the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which effectively cleared the way for such organizations to donate unlimited sums to political campaigns and causes.
The issue has local currency. Residents of Lisle Township and Warrenville will find this advisory referendum question on their ballots for the Nov. 6 general election: “Should the United States Constitution be amended to clearly state that only individual persons, and not corporations, associations, or any other organizational entities, are entitled to the rights enumerated in the Constitution?”
Cobb said Move to Amend has helped to pass 300 resolutions, including seven measures in this area that were approved by super majorities.
“This is something that’s cutting across party lines, it’s cutting across institutions,” Cobb said.
While political disagreement is by definition an integral element of any healthy free state, he said, this money issue is more fundamental.
“The United States of America are supposed to be a democratic republic,” he said.
Cobb will discuss the initiative at 7 p.m. Sunday in room 20 of Goldspohn Hall, 31 N Loomis St., Naperville. The appearance is being sponsored jointly by North Central’s Speech Communication Department and DuPage Move to Amend.
Cobb also plans to host an informal conversation about Move to Amend at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Boilerhouse Cafe, 29 N. Loomis St. in Naperville.
