New York City Council to vote on ending corporate personhood

The New York City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution asking Congress to pass an amendment overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The Supreme Court ruled that corporations had the same First Amendment rights as U.S. citizens and that political spending was free speech. The ruling allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, so long as their actions were not directly coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

"Across the country are standing up to reclaim our democracy – and are expecting elected officials to heed the call for constitutional reform that makes clear that democracy is for people, not for corporations," Jonah Minkoff-Zern, the senior organizer of Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People Campaign, said in a statement. "New York City should support this movement by passing the resolution."

The resolution was sponsored by Progressive Caucus Councilmembers Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Stephen Levin with the co-sponsorship of the entirety of the Progressive Caucus and the support of Speaker Christine Quinn.

Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; Albany, NY; Missoula, MO; Boulder, CO and South Miami, FL have all passed similar resolutions.

In 2011, lawmakers introduced four different constitutional amendments to the U.S. House and Senate aimed at overturning the Citizens United ruling.

Any constitutional amendment will need to win the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers of Congress.

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