A group of about two-dozen protestors were chanting, “the corporation … the corporation … is not a person … is not a person … that word belongs to you and me … that word belongs to you and me,” in front of the Federal courthouse in Downtown Anchorage Friday.
They’re part of the national ‘Move To Amend Rally’ taking place at courthouses across the nation today and this weekend. Cindy Karns of Eagle River helped organize the Anchorage event. She says the protest marks the second anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision.
“Citizens United was a court case, a supreme court case ruling two years ago tomorrow that citizens – that corporations are people and money is speech, so now the corporations can make super PACs and spend as much money as they want on elections…94 percent of the time the person with the most money wins the election,” Karns said.
Karns says they want an amendment to the Constitution to limit the influence of corporations on politics. The protesters say they were inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
