r-10745City Council Meeting: May 14, 2013
Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER �� 7`�� (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA TO SUPPORT THE MOVE TO AMEND
CAMPAIGN'S CALL FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION TO
ABOLISH CORPORATE PERSONHOOD
WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the people has long been a cherished
American value, and We The People's fundamental and inalienable right to self - govern,
and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness is
guaranteed in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and;
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-
governance; and
WHEREAS, persons are rightfully recognized as human beings whose essential
needs include clean air, clean water, safe and secure food; and
WHEREAS, corporations are entirely human -made legal fictions created by
express permission of We The People and our government; and
WHEREAS, corporations can exist in perpetuity, can exist simultaneously in
many nations at once, need only profit for survival, and exist solely through the legal
charter imposed by the government of We The People; and
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WHEREAS, in addition to these advantages, the great wealth of large
corporations allows them to wield coercive force of law to overpower human beings and
communities, thus denying We The People's exercise of our Constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution, and The People
have never granted constitutional rights to corporations, nor have We decreed that
corporations have authority that exceeds the authority of We The People of the United
States; and
WHEREAS, interpretation of the US Constitution by appointed Supreme Court
justices to include corporations in the term 'persons' has long denied We The Peoples'
exercise of self- governance by endowing corporations with Constitutional protections
intended for We The People; and
WHEREAS, the illegitimate judicial bestowal of civil and political rights upon
corporations usurps basic human and Constitutional rights guaranteed to human
persons, and also empowers corporations to sue municipal and state governments for
adopting laws that violate 'corporate rights' even when those laws serve to protect and
defend the rights of human persons and communities; and
WHEREAS, corporations are not and have never been human beings, and
therefore are rightfully subservient to human beings and governments as our legal
creations; and
WHEREAS, large corporations' profits and survival are often in direct conflict with
the essential needs and rights of human beings; and
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WHEREAS, the recent Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission
Supreme Court decision that rolled back the legal limits on corporate spending in the
electoral process creates an unequal playing field and allows unlimited corporate
spending to influence elections, candidate selection, policy decisions and sway votes,
and forces elected officials to divert their attention from The Peoples' business, or even
vote against the interest of their human constituents, in order to ensure competitive
campaign funds for their own re- election; and
WHEREAS, large corporations own most of America's mass media and use that
media as a megaphone to express loudly their political agenda and to convince
Americans that their primary role is that of consumers, rather than sovereign citizens
with rights and responsibilities within our democracy, and this forces citizens to toil to
discern the truth behind headlines and election campaigning; and
WHEREAS, tens of thousands of people and municipalities across the nation are
joining with the Move to Amend campaign to call for an Amendment to the US
Constitution to Abolish Corporate Personhood; and
WHEREAS, interest in ending corporate personhood continues to grow, as
evidenced by the national Move to Amend mobilization day on May 10, 2013.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. To call on our elected federal representatives to join the tens of
thousands of citizens, grassroots organizations and local governments across the
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country in the Move to Amend campaign to call for an Amendment to the Constitution to
Abolish Corporate Personhood and return our democracy, our elections, our
communities back to America's human persons and to thus reclaim our sovereign right
to self - governance.
SECTION 2. To call on other communities and jurisdictions to join with us in this
action by passing similar Resolutions.
SECTION 3. To support education to increase public awareness of the threats to
our democracy posed by Corporate Personhood and encourage lively discussion to
build understanding and consensus to take appropriate community and municipal
actions to democratically respond to these threats.
SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Adopted and approved this 14th day of May, 2013.
I; Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Resolution No. 10745 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 14th day of May, 2013, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers: Holbrook, McKeown, Vazquez, Winterer
Mayor Pro Tern O'Day
NOES: Councilmember: Davis
ABSENT: Councilmembers: Mayor O'Connor
ATTEST:
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Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk