The Eleventh Amendment Movement
(TEAM)
~ ~ ~ www.11thAmendment.org ~ ~ ~
Twitter @11thamendment
CITIZENS UNITED May Be Effectively Reversed — Within Two Months
** National and Local Strategy in Place…URGENT ACTION NEEDED NOW! **
In December, the State of Montana’s Supreme Court upheld Montana’s strict election finance laws in defiance of Citizens United. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has been petitioned to intervene and to overturn on appeal Montana’s landmark ruling whereby Montana refuses to enforce Citizens United.
Montana’s courageous and important stand against Citizens United could be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court (“behind closed doors,” perhaps) in the absence of widespread public attention and political support for this case. If this occurs, Citizens United will be affirmed as “the law of the land.”
HOWEVER… There’s a chance SCOTUS will not hear the Montana case. Then Montana’s laws stand and Citizens United is effectively negated, reversed…Right here and now, for this 2012 election.
OUR GOAL: To prevent the Supreme Court from granting the Petition and hearing the Montana case at all. We will focus on states’ rights issues, especially Eleventh Amendment issues, to achieve this.
ه ELEVENTH AMENDMENT: The 11th Amendment to the Constitution, and later Supreme Court rulings, say a Federal court cannot hear a case involving an individual or a corporation against a State (as in this case against Montana), except in very specific circumstances. THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NOT PRESENT in the Montana case and the Court should deny jurisdiction and refuse to hear the case.
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ه To repeat: If the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, Montana’s state law prohibiting corporate money in politics will stand, and serve as precedent for other states to immediately enforce or enact similar laws with some confidence that they will not be overturned by the Supreme Court.
ه Attorneys general from other states are authorized to file court briefs to show support for Montana. The AG’s may also submit arguments based on the rights of all the states not to be required to undermine democracy in their state by enforcing an unconstitutional decree of the Supreme Court. This is a states’ rights issue and the more states that show solidarity, the harder it will be for SCOTUS to accept the case.
ه The states’ rights issues raised by the Montana case make an 11th Amendment argument a stronger case than Citizens United, and make it a case that AG’s and justices across the political spectrum can support.
* There are May 8th and 18th deadlines for States to file court briefs to support Montana *
WHAT YOU CAN DO
ه Contact your state attorney general — and spread the word for others to do the same — asking them to inquire about and support this 11th Amendment Movement…and to file or join an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief by May 8th and May 18th, 2012. (see Sidebar at right for all 50 attorneys general links)
ه Help to publicize the Montana case so the Supreme Court does not reverse the decision behind closed doors. Use internet social media, E-mails, print out this page and distribute it, post on Bulletin Boards, etc.
Victory by the states in the Montana case can lead to the effective reversal of Citizens United…right now, for the 2012 Election…because states are the primary, constitutional source of election laws.
I follow the ongoing evolution of C.U. I and “C.U. II” (Western Traditions Ptnsp. v. Montana) and am really intrigued by your tactical manuver. I don’t completely understand, however, if “the fiction” you refer to in your website description is alluding (generally) to the notion that corporations have been historically accorded “personhood” status by virtue of a string of legal cases commencing in the 1880′s with the Santa Clara case. If your tact is predicated on that line of cases, how (or do you?) make the next step of going from corporations as “persons” as referred to in the Constitution and the 11th Amendment which clearly refers to “citizens”? Are both the same, i.e., persons=citizens=corporations generally for purposes of your theory? Note when the 11th was passed and when the legal evolution of individual protections for corporations began. 100 years! Surely that is instructive…I think. Anyway, I hope Florida’s AG, Pam Bondi, is up on this development (your organization’s efforts) and can lend some perspective. If an unusual state soverignty theory makes for the effective “undoing” of C.U. I, I posit you’d have a lot of happy election law reformers thanking you. If your approach doesn’t work, well, then, when the cert petition is heard on the merits, it’ll make for some legally fascinating …ughhh…nuancing. Good luck.
I greatly admire what TEAM is doing to prevent a US Supreme Court from accepting the petition to hear a case against Montana’s opposition to Citizens United. Elections on the state level are administered state by state according to each state’s rules and regulations. Citizens United can affect federal elections, but certainly shouldn’t be forced on the states for state elections. The 11th Amendment to the Constitution sates “The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or subjects of any Foreign State.” Eccentially this means that a federal court cannot hear a case brought by an individual or a corporation against a state. What the US Supreme Court did with Citizens United was to in affect add an amendment the 11th amendment (an act not ratified by any state) which set up an exception to the 11th amendment. Twenty four state actually had state laws against corporate interference in state elections. Montana, however, is the only state standing up for its own laws in this regard and not caving into the US Supremem Court overreach and new law creation. I will definitely contact my state’s attorney general and hopefully my state will stand with Montana. I will also post this information for the public to see in my community.
Great news. I will write my Attorney General right now.