Democracy Activists Pledge Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Strikes Down Limits on Campaign Contributions

As the Supreme Court hears oral argument for a new case on campaign finance today, a coalition of democracy activists pledged non-violent civil disobedience should the Court decide to eliminate limits on campaign spending.

In McCutcheon v. FEC, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to uphold a law that says that no one person can contribute over $123,000 directly to federal candidates, parties, and committees.

"The Court has already given wealthy individuals and giant corporations the power to drown out the voices of ordinary people in its repugnant Citizens United decision," stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director of the Move to Amend Coalition. "If the high court continues its destruction of campaign finance restrictions with McCutcheon, corporate executives and other wealthy individuals will have unlimited power to flood our elections with their money. Our so-called democracy will be meaningless."

The Move to Amend Coalition was launched in reaction to the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, in which the Court expanded the ability of individuals, corporations, and unions to contribute money indirectly. McCutcheon v. FEC, dubbed "Citizens United 2.0", stands to further remove limits on campaign spending.

In response to Citizens United Move to Amend is proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will overturn the Court's decision and make clear that corporations and other artificial entities do not have Constitutional rights and that campaign spending is not speech protected by the First Amendment.

Polling indicates that almost 80% of Americans are in favor of overturning Citizens United, with a majority supporting an amendment to establish that corporations are not entitled to Constitutional rights.

"If the Court doubles down on their attack on election integrity we will have no choice but to up the ante with tactics of civil disobedience in the tradition of the lunch counter sit-ins of the Civil Rights movement," stated David Cobb, spokesperson for Move to Amend. "Civil disobedience was used in response to the Court's doctrine of 'separate but equal' that legalized decades of segregation and Jim Crow laws, and we may need to do it again to make clear that the Court is out of touch with the American public once again."

Move to Amend is urging Americans to sign a pledge at https://movetoamend.org/resist to commit to "non-violent, civil disobedience if necessary" in support of an amendment to the Constitution to overrule the Court.