Keene representative Chuck Weed introduces HCR 1

HCR 1:

A RESOLUTION urging the congressional delegation to begin the process for a constitutional amendment establishing that human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights.

Whereas, government was established to provide a social contract between naturally born persons; and

Whereas, the founders of the U.S. Constitution and Republic clearly and emphatically intended freedom of speech to mean freedom to communicate with and by natural born persons either directly or through the free press; and

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on January 21, 2010 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have the same first amendment rights as people, and that they can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections; and

Whereas, the Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law, because in a democracy, the people rule; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the general court urges the New Hampshire congressional delegation to encourage and expedite a constitutional amendment based on the following principle:

The freedoms of speech and the press, and the right to assemble peaceably and to petition the Government for the redress of grievances, as protected by this Constitution, shall not encompass the speech, association, or other activities of any corporation or other artificial entity created for business purposes, except for a corporation or entity whose business is the publication or broadcasting of information, when such corporation or entity is engaged in that business. A corporation or other artificial entity created for business purposes includes a corporation or entity that, although not itself engaged in business pursuits, receives the majority of its funding from other corporations or artificial entities created for business purposes; and

That it is the intent of the general court to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights; and

That copies of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, be forwarded by the house clerk to each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.