Forget city hall and civic plazas. Angry citizens will be airing their beefs at federal courthouses on Jan. 20 –- but not through litigation.
Occupy the Courts, organized by a group called Move to Amend http://movetoamend.org/, is being billed as a “one day occupation of federal courthouses across the country.” The protestors are mad as hell about the Citizens United decision and they’re marking the second anniversary with a nationwide courts confab. The Move to Amend Web site says protests are planned at courthouses from Eureka to San Diego in California.
Now, anyone who’s been through a security screening at a federal building recently knows they aren’t exactly warm and welcoming places for “occupations.” But Occupy organizers are supplying public building use applications for those interested along with instructions for contacting facilities managers. No word on how courthouse security folks are handling those protest plans.
Organizers have also provided handy templates for creating posters, handbills and a “Corporate Personhood Costume” for the event.
As an attorney, I am proud to be the originator, and National Action Coordinator, for Move to Amend's (MTA) national day of action OCCUPY THE COURTS (OTC).
As of this morning, OTC actions are being planned for January 20, 2012 - to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's odious Citizens United v. FEC decision - by pro-democracy activists IN FRONT OF (not inside of) U.S. Courthouses in 83 cities across the United States, including in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.!
To find their nearest OTC action, people should go to (www.movetoamend.org/occupythecourts). Then, they should contact their local OTC organizer and GET INVOLVED!
One of the main purposes of OTC is to introduce America to MTA's proposed 28th Amendment. Unlike the other amendments that have been introduced into the House, and the Senate, recently, MTA's proposed 28th Amendment clearly, and unequivocally, states: 1) that rights recognized under the Constitution belong to human beings, ONLY (with NO exceptions and NO loopholes); and, 2) that "Money is NOT speech."
To read MTA's proposed amendment, go to (www.movetoamend.org/amendment). THIS is what an amendment that is serious about ending corporate personhood, and about getting money out of politics looks like!
As lawyers, we are the last line of defense against attacks on the Constitution. Citizens United v. FEC, and the specious, judicially-created, doctrines of "Corporate Personhood" and "Money is speech" pose direct threats to the American tradition of "small d" democracy and enlightened self-government. I hope that lawyers will turn out, in large numbers, at OCCUPY THE COURTS events on January 20, 2012!
ONWARD!
Stephen A. Justino
Denver, Colorado
Co-Chair, Colorado Move to Amend
Move to Amend, National Action Coordinator, OCCUPY THE COURTS - 1.20.2012!
Posted by: Steve_I_Am | January 05, 2012 at 08:53 AM