HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 266 Draft 02 2014-2016 COUNTY OF HAWAII moi..'. STATE OF HAWAII
RESOLUTION NO. 266 15
(DRAFT 2)
A RESOLUTION URGING HAWAI'I'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO
PROPOSE AND PASS AN AMENDMENT CLARIFYING THAT CORPORATIONS
ARE NOT PEOPLE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, AND THAT UNLIMITED
CAMPAIGN SPENDING IS NOT FREE SPEECH.
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution was written and approved with the intention
of protecting the rights of individual human beings ("natural persons"); and
WHEREAS, corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution, and the people of the
Unites States ("The People") have never granted constitutional rights to corporations, nor
decreed that corporations have authority that exceeds the authority of The People; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of
commerce (1990), recognized as a threat to a republican form of government "the corrosive and
distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with the help of the
corporate form and that have little or no correlation to the public's support for the corporation's
political ideas"; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission (2010) ("Citizens United") reversed the decision in Austin by rolling back legal
limits on corporate spending in the electoral process and allowing unlimited corporate spending
to sway votes and influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions; and
WHEREAS, the majority decision in Citizens United was recognized as a serious threat
to self-government by the four dissenting justices. Corporations have special advantages not
enjoyed by natural persons, such as limited liability, perpetual life, and favorable treatment of the
accumulation and distribution of assets. These advantages allow them to amass and spend
prodigious sums on campaign messages that often have far greater reach and influence than
messages from individuals; and
WHEREAS, federal courts in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and in SpeechNow.org v. FED
(2010) overturned limits on independent expenditures because the "corruption or perception of
corruption" rationale was only applicable to direct contributions to candidates; and
WHEREAS, United States Supreme Court in Justice Stevens observed in Nixon v.
Shrink Missouri Government PAC (2000) that"money is property, it is not speech"; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution allows The People of the
various states to amend the U.S. Constitution to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the
United States Supreme Court that challenge our democratic principles and the republican form of
self-government; and
WHEREAS, there is widespread opposition to the Citizens United ruling that money is
speech and that independent corporate campaign spending cannot be limited; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it
urges Hawai'i's congressional delegation to propose and pass an amendment clarifying that
corporations are not people with constitutional rights, and that unlimited campaign spending is
not free speech.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward copies of this
resolution to United States Senator Brian Schatz, United States Senator Mazie Hirono, United
States Representative Mark Takai, United States representative Tulsi Gabbard, Mayor Bernard P.
Carvalho, Jr., Governor David Y. Ige, State Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, and Speaker of
the State House of Representatives Joe Souki, and the Honorable Mayor William P. Kenoi.
Dated at Hil( , Hawai`i, this 2nd day of September , 2015 •
INTRODUCED BY:
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII
COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE
County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX
Hilo, Hawaii CHUNG X
DAVID X
I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by EOFF X
the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the ILAGAN X
County of Hawai`i on September 2, 2015
KANUHA X
ONISHI X
ATTEST: PALEKA X
POINDEXTER X
WILLE X
6 3 0 0 _
Reference: C-445.1/Waived GREDC
COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON&PRESIDIN OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 266 1.5
(DRAFT 2)
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