Langley pressures Supreme Court

Published 3:14 pm Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Whidbey action group known as Citizen’s Ignited won its first official ally in Langley last week.

Dedicated to overturning the much criticized Supreme Court decision commonly referred to as Citizens United, the Langley City Council agreed to support the group’s goal with a resolution urging Congress to take action to reverse the decision.

One of the only ways to do so is with the approval of a constitutional amendment. The council’s resolution, which was adopted by unanimous vote, urges Congress to begin the process by preparing and then sending an amendment to states for approval.

The council’s action follows a national movement of cities and states that have passed similar resolutions or ordinances against Citizens United, which determined that corporations and unions have the same First Amendment free speech rights as people and that the government could not restrict them from making independent political expenditures.

According to the Move to Amend website, movetoamend.org, so far at least four states and 120 local governments, including the Seattle City Council, have passed resolutions or ordinances against corporate personhood.