Move to Amend

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director of Move to Amend, talks about a proposed 28th amendment to our Constitution - an amendment that basically says “Corporations are not people.” Kaitlin explains that though the infamous “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision of 2010 asserted First Amendment rights to corporations, this was not the beginning of corporate privilege in America. Our nation has a long history of treating corporations with all the privileges of human beings, but without the responsibilities. As a result, corporations have, for a long time, acted with virtual impunity in violating human rights in this nation. When faced with deciding between human rights and corporate privilege, the courts typically decide in favor of corporations. Citizens United is just the latest example.

Move to Amend calls for a new amendment to the US Constitution that unequivocally states that inalienable rights belong to human beings only. It also states that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment, and therefore it must be regulated in political campaigns.

The organization embraces a set of values that includes accountability and responsibility on both a personal and organizational level, a commitment to transparency, and a recognition of the importance of community. Additionally, they are strongly committed to the elimination of oppression in all forms; individuals, communities, workplaces, policies, and political representation.

In addition to being the National Director of Move to Amend, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap is the President of the Board of Directors of Democracy Unlimited, and a Local Democracy Fellow for the Liberty Tree Foundation. 

Kaitlin believes in a diversity of tactics to bring about systemic social change. She has served on numerous national and local boards, helped elect many progressive candidates to office, served as a local elected official herself for 12 years, bird-dogged candidates and politicians, citizen lobbied Congressmembers and state officials, and she has hosted a community radio station program. In the summer of 2019 she was arrested for taking part in a civil disobedience action to shut down Congress over climate collapse inaction. She and 16 other activists superglued their hands to the doors leading from Congressional office buildings to the US Capitol.