MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Hallie Bowie, 330-329-6901, hallie17@sbcglobal.net
WHAT: "Reclaim Democracy" Rally to Mark 3rd Anniversary of Citizens United Supreme Court decision
WHEN: Friday, January 18 / 4:30 pm - 5:30pm
WHERE: Federal Building, corner of Main and Market streets, Akron
WHO: Sponsored by Summit County Move to Amend, the local affiliate of national Move to Amend coalition. Summit County Move to Amend includes members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron, the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, several environmental groups, and others. Move to Amend is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals committed to social and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant democracy that is genuinely accountable to the people, not corporate interests. They are calling for an amendment to the US Constitution to unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated in political campaigns. Several hundred communities, including several in Ohio, have already passed resolutions or ballot measures calling for such an amendment.
WHY:
- To call attention to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court "Citizens United v. FEC" decision expanding the rights of corporations and the wealthy to donate to elections.
- To thank Akron City Council for their December resolution calling for a Constitutional Amendment to reverse Citizens United
- To encourage the community to contact their County Council representative asking that they support a resolution calling for the Move to Amend constitutional amendment.
Signs at the rally will include:
• "Corporations are not People"
• "Legalize Democracy, End Corporate Rule"
• "End Corporate Personhood"
• "Money is not Speech"
• "Thank you Akron City Council for Your Resolution"