Statement on Supreme Court ruling to overturn federal campaign laws and impact on California

 
PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2010

 

LOS ANGELES, CA – Rick Jacobs, Chair of the 700,000-member Courage Campaign, released the following statement today regarding the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to overturn limits on corporate campaign activities:

“The Supreme Court just announced that democracy is for sale to the highest bidder,” Jacobs said. “The five conservative justices have placed citizens at a severe disadvantage, since their voice can and will be drowned out by a river of corporate money, starting this year. California’s Congressional delegation needs to take swift legislative action to restrict the ability of large corporations to take over our political system.”

Jacobs also pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in the case, Citizens United v. FEC, as an example of the ways this decision will impact California and the fight for LGBT equality. Justice Thomas wanted to use the case to declare laws requiring campaign finance disclosure as unconstitutional, and cited the Proposition 8 case as evidence for his claims:

“Amici’s examples relate principally to Proposition 8, a state ballot proposition that California voters narrowly passed in the 2008 general election. Proposition 8 amended California’s constitution to provide that “[o]nly marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Any donor who gave more than $100 to any committee supporting or opposing Proposition 8 was required to disclose his full name, street address, occupation, employer’s name (or business name, if self-employed), and the total amount of his contributions.

“Now more than ever, [disclosure and disclaimer rules] will chill protected speech because—as California voters can attest—“the advent of the Internet” enables “prompt disclosure of expenditures,” which “provide[s]” political opponents “with the information needed” to intimidate and retaliate against their foes. Thus, “disclosure permits citizens … to react to the speech of [their political opponents] in a proper”—or undeniably improper —“way” long before a plaintiff could prevail on an as-applied challenge.”

In response, Jacobs said “Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion is extremely troubling. His opinion effectively attempts to hide the true beliefs and intentions of the forces behind Proposition 8 from the American public. This can only help the many anti-equality organizations seeking to use unlimited financial resources to take away fundamental rights at the ballot box. We aren’t going to let them get away with it.”

“The Courage Campaign is participating in the boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, partly in response to Doug Manchester’s large donations to the effort to get Proposition 8 on the ballot,” Jacobs explained. “We believe that such actions are a form of protected speech and are legitimate politics. We intend to launch other, similar campaigns against corporations that try to use their wealth to distort our democracy.”