Citizens United Against Citizens United

A Movement Is Building to Amend the Constitution

In January 2010, five US Supreme Court justices legalized the wholesale purchase of America’s elected officials. In its landmark decision, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, the court’s majority ruled that corporations, as persons, have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money, as speech, on campaign advertisements as long as those communications are not formally coordinated with any candidate. In Chief Justice Roberts’s court, at least, political expenditures by…
» Read more

(0) Comments

by: Riki Ott – Autumn 2012

Hide and Leak

BP’s Cleanup Is More Like a Cover up. Holding the Company Accountable Will Require Digging for the Truth.

On July 15, BP managed to finally seal its broken Macondo wellhead and stop the oil that had been hemorrhaging into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. The very next week, as I was driving up the Florida coast, locals kept pointing out to me where cleanup workers were packing up and pulling out. From Crawfordville through to Carrabelle, and Port St. Joe to Pensacola, the booms were disappearing, the crew…
» Read more

(0) Comments

by: Riki Ott – Autumn 2010

BP Spill: All Hands on Deck!

In the southern marshes and swamplands euphemistically called Barataria “Bay,” local Louisiana fishermen refer to BP as “Bayou Polluter” – and that was before the April 20 blowout of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by the oil giant. Fishermen say BP…
» Read more

(1) Comments

by: Riki Ott – June 9, 2010

Ultimate Civics

Who Rules? The People vs. Corporate Power

The United States Supreme Court issues rulings every Tuesday except during its summer recess. Most decisions do not have any central bearing on our lives or culture. But some are landmark decisions that dramatically alter the fundamental rules of America’s governing structure – the US Constitution – for better or worse. The Evolution of Corporate Personhood 1789 US Constitution Ratified Legalizes and institutionalizes slavery 1803 Marbury v. Madison Establishes concept of judicial…
» Read more

(0) Comments

by: Riki Ott – Summer 2010