SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1488 FILED ON: 1/21/2011
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 772
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
James B. Eldridge
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying resolution:
Resolutions restoring free speech.
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PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: |
James B. Eldridge |
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Daniel A. Wolf |
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Stanley C. Rosenberg | Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester |
Katherine M. Clark | Fifth Middlesex |
James J. O'Day | 14th Worcester |
Timothy R. Madden | Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket |
Jonathan Hecht | 29th Middlesex |
Kay Khan | 11th Middlesex |
William Smitty Pignatelli | 4th Berkshire |
Cleon H. Turner | 1st Barnstable |
Paul W. Mark | 2nd Berkshire |
Peter V. Kocot | 1st Hampshire |
Sarah K. Peake | 4th Barnstable |
Cory Atkins | 14th Middlesex |
Benjamin B. Downing | Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden |
Charles A. Murphy | 21st Middlesex |
James Arciero | 2nd Middlesex |
Sonia Chang-Diaz |
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Sal N. DiDomenico | Middlesex and Suffolk |
Eileen M. Donoghue |
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier | 3rd Berkshire |
Denise Andrews | 2nd Franklin |
Linda Campbell | 15th Essex |
Thomas M. McGee | Third Essex |
Brian A. Joyce | Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth |
John F. Keenan |
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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1488 FILED ON: 1/21/2011
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 772
By Mr. Eldridge, a petition (accompanied by resolution, Senate, No. 772) of James B. Eldridge, Daniel A. Wolf, Stanley C. Rosenberg, Katherine M. Clark and other members of the General Court memoralizing the Congress of the United States to restore free speech. The Judiciary. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven
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Resolutions restoring free speech.
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was designed to protect the free speech rights of people, not corporations;
WHEREAS, for the past three decades, a divided United States Supreme Court has transformed the First Amendment into a powerful tool for corporations seeking to evade and invalidate democratically-enacted reforms;
WHEREAS, this corporate takeover of the First Amendment has reached its extreme conclusion in the United States Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Citizens United v. FEC;
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC overturned longstanding precedent prohibiting corporations from spending their general treasury funds in our elections;
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC will now unleash a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in United States history;
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC presents a serious and direct threat to our democracy;
WHEREAS, the people of the United States have previously used the constitutional amendment process to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the United States Supreme Court that go to the heart of our democracy and self-government;
Now be it resolved that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hereby calls upon the United States Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.