HOUSE MEMORIAL 7

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Brian F. Egolf

A MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING STRONG OPPOSITION TO THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT RULING IN CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION CONCERNING CORPORATE CAMPAIGN SPENDING AND REQUESTING CONGRESS TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

     WHEREAS, on January 21, 2010, the United States supreme court, by a five to four decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, overturned several important provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, as well as earlier supreme court decisions and other federal campaign legislation dating back to 1907; and

     WHEREAS, the supreme court's ruling holds that corporations are guaranteed the rights of persons under the United States constitution and can exercise free speech by maintaining their own unlimited political campaigns outside the reach of federal laws that limit campaign contributions; and

     WHEREAS, in a ninety-page dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said that the Citizens United decision represents a radical change in the law and "threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation"; and 

     WHEREAS, the supreme court's decision in Citizens United is premised on an illogical legal concept that corporations are persons who have the same free speech rights as individuals; and

     WHEREAS, corporations cannot by any reasonable definition be characterized as people because corporations:

          A. can reside in multiple states and countries simultaneously;

          B. can conceivably exist for hundreds of years;

          C. cannot be incarcerated;

          D. cannot enter into a marriage contract or conceive a child;

          E. cannot independently formulate political opinions separate and distinct from the board of directors, executives, shareholders or employees;

          F. cannot obtain citizenship or be issued a passport;

          G. cannot enlist in the military; and

          H. cannot vote; and

     WHEREAS, the first amendment to the United States constitution was designed to protect the free speech rights of people, not corporations; and 

     WHEREAS, on the basis of protecting the free speech rights of corporations, Citizens United will now allow corporations to spend unprecedented amounts of money on political campaigns; and

     WHEREAS, as a result of Citizens United, there is likely to be a chilling effect on the willingness of candidates and elected officials to advocate and implement policies that advance the public interest but that may be against corporate interests; and

     WHEREAS, the decision in Citizens United grants excessive power to corporate interests and threatens to overwhelm the voice of individual citizens in the political process; and 

     WHEREAS, the people of the United States have previously used the constitutional amendment process to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the United States supreme court that go to the heart of democracy and self-government; 

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it express strong opposition to the supreme court's decision in Citizens United and call upon the United States congress to propose an amendment to the United States constitution to provide that corporations will not be considered persons for the purposes of protecting free speech under the first amendment; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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