Newport Pressed on Corporate Personhood Issue

Members of Occupy Newport and other local residents will ask the Newport City Council Monday to support action to revers the 2010 “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision. Stephen Farish of Waldport hopes the council will join other communities by adopting a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment to reverse that court decisions and others, by declaring corporations are not “persons” under U.S. law. They will gather at the Newport City Council meeting chamber at 6:00 p.m. February 6. “A convincing attendance is needed for Councilors to understand how important this is to the citizens of Newport and Lincoln County,” Farish said. “Speaking time is limited so you may not get an opportunity to address the Council directly but your presence will be noted,” he added.

Several people active with Occupy Newport have posted statements they intend to make at the meeting. Katherine Howard of Newport writes, “I have voted all my adult life believing that my vote made a difference, and then the Supreme Court ruled in Citizen’s United…that corporations have the same rights as people, and their unlimited spending is the same as my free speech. This gives Corporations the ability to buy every election and politician. If every citizen of this country pooled our money we could not compete with the resources of corporations. This decision of the Supreme Court has muted every human voice in this great country of ours. Our votes no longer count. Our voices are not heard. I ask you now to join with other cities, across the country and create a resolution rejecting corporate person-hood in Newport, Oregon, and to support an amendment to revoke corporate person hood from our nation’s constitution,” Howard wrote.

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