Burlington Town Meeting to Take up Article on 'Citizens United' Decision

There is a unique item that will likely be taken up during the third session of Burlington's annual May Town Meeting tonight.

Town Meeting reconvenes at 7:30 p.m. in the Burlington High School auditorium tonight. Thus far Town Meeting has gotten though 17 of the 25 warrant article and it seems likely the warrant will be wrapped up tonight.

Article 22, put forward by Town Meeting member Sally Willard, Precinct 4, asked members to support Constitutional amendment to "stipulate that corporations are not people and do not enjoy the First Amendment rights of people."

The article, if approved, would support a resolution for an amendment to the US Constitution and, also, to direct the Board of Selectmen to send a letter indicating that support to Burlington’s US Representative and US Senators.

The article is a rebuttal of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In that case the court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political independent expenditures by corporations, associations, or labor unions. The decision is credited with paving the way for Political Action Committees (PACs) and Super PACs that allow corporations, groups and wealthy individuals to spend as much money as they like in support of political candidates or for attack ads against candidates.

A vote in favor of the article would not change United States law but would send a message that the Town of Burlington doesn't agree with the Supreme Court decision.

In part, the warrant article states:

"For the past three decades, a divided United States Supreme Court has erroneously transformed the Bill of Rights into a powerful tool for corporations seeking to evade and invalidate the people’s laws, and has compromised the integrity of our democratic process by striking down legislation aimed at mitigating the disproportionate influence of money in policy making; and, whereas, the expenditure of unlimited money in elections threatens to overwhelm our individual voices in the democratic process and to facilitate the undue influence of well-financed special interests in government..."

"Now therefore let is be resolved that we the citizens of Burlington, Massachusetts, petition the U.S. Congress to pass and send to the states an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would affirm that corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings, and that Congress, and state and local governments may place limits on political contributions and expenditures from any source."

Read the full text of Article 22 here.

What do you think? Should Town Meeting vote to approve this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.