Stymie corporate power

Since the Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court over a year ago, there seems to be more attention being paid to the rights corporations have to influence not only our elections, but our governing and lawmaking as well.

That decision gave corporations the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, wiping out congressional efforts to rein in corporate spending. The court said such limits interfered with the corporations’ First Amendment free speech rights – rights intended for natural people.

Citizens United is just one of many decisions by the courts over the past 200 years granting corporations constitutional rights and powers. And the effect is clear: Corporations are able to decide who gets elected, which laws get passed, and what happens in our community.

Community rights have become subordinate to corporate rights. Thus when a big development is proposed for one of Spokane’s neighborhoods that is incompatible with that neighborhood, the corporation’s right to site the development overrides our rights as residents to say “no” to it.

Proposition 1 would change that by eliminating the authority of corporations to interfere with our authority to make decisions that are best for our neighborhoods, the river and our aquifer.

Vote yes on Prop 1.

James Green

Spokane