An Open Letter to the Board of Commissioners

of

…………..  County

Dear Commissioner  ……., Commissioner …………., Commissioner ……… and Commissioner ……….

The Minnesota State Senate and House of Representatives have bills before them that propose to amend the Minnesota Constitution.   The bill, SF683/HF914, puts forward a simple question to voters: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to define ‘person’ to mean natural person?” 

MN Move to Amend represents a coalition of Minnesota organizations and citizens that strongly support this bill.  We are asking that you consider passing a resolution in your county in promoting the amendment.  We hope to get this nonpartisan bill before the people of Minnesota by 2012.

A sample of the non-binding resolution we would like you to consider is:

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;

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;

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;

Therefore, be it resolved that the County of, (City of) ___________ hereby calls on our Minnesota state legislators, to vote and pass the proposed legislative bills; SF683/HF914 and put the question "Shall the Minnesota constitution be amended to define 'person' as a natural person?" before the citizens of Minnesota.

Be it further resolved that the County of, (City of) ___________ calls on other communities and jurisdictions to join with us in this action by passing similar Resolutions.

Be it further resolved that the County of,(City of) ___________ supports education to increase public awareness of the threats to our democracy posed by Corporate Personhood, and encourages lively discussion to build understanding and consensus to take appropriate community and municipal actions to democratically respond to these threats.

DATE: ___________

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 Two similar but separate bills were recently passed in Dane County, and Madison, Wisconsin.  Other communities around the nation have also passed similar resolutions.  You may find out more information at the national website: www.movetoamend.org  Or you may discuss this with me at phone 651 319 2097 or mnmovetoamend@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Robin Monahan ,

MN Move to Amend Coordinator