{"id":48276,"date":"2026-05-16T12:40:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48276"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:41:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:41:50","slug":"48276","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/48276\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Big News\u2019: Hawaii Targets Citizens United With Law Clarifying Corporations Are Not People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/rally-held-marking-5th-anniversary-of-citzens-united-decision-aims-to-draw-attention-to-corporate-money-in-politics.jpg?id=56533767&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C234%2C0%2C108\" alt=\"Rally Held Marking 5th Anniversary Of Citzens United Decision Aims To Draw Attention To Corporate Money In Politics\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Attendees hold signs as they listen to speakers during a rally calling for an end to corporate money on January 21, 2015 in Washington, DC.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Photo by Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cThe far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections. But we are not powerless. We can fight back,\u201d said US Rep. Greg Casar.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May 15, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state of Hawaii has passed a law that poses a direct challenge to the infamous 2010&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/citizens-united\">Citizens United<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/supreme-court\">Supreme Court<\/a>&nbsp;ruling, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending in US elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Thursday signed into law a bill that takes aim at the court\u2019s ruling that corporations are effectively people with full&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/free-speech\">free speech<\/a>&nbsp;rights who can face no limits on what they can contribute to political organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/creep-state-anti-big-tech\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/creep-state-posters-of-musk-and-gates.png?id=66686878&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=85%2C0%2C85%2C0\" alt=\"Creep State posters of Musk and Gates.\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/creep-state-anti-big-tech\">\u2018The Creep State Is Watching\u2019: Guerilla Art Project Takes on Big Tech\u2019s Power Grab\u200b<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-irs-lawsuit-slush-fund\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/us-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-and-president-donald-trump.jpg?id=63523317&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=833%2C0%2C834%2C0\" alt=\"US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Donald Trump\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-irs-lawsuit-slush-fund\">\u2018A $1,700,000,000 Fraud\u2019: Trump Set to Drop IRS Suit in Exchange for MAGA Slush Fund<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MorePerfectUS\/status\/2055281571301593538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>&nbsp;by More Perfect Union, the law, which is set to take effect next July, classifies corporations as \u201cartificial persons\u201d who do not have a constitutional right to make political donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe bill could limit the influence of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/super-pacs\">super PACs<\/a>,\u201d noted More Perfect Union, \u201cand be a model to challenge the influence of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/money-in-politics\">money in politics<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democratic Hawaii state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, a supporter of the law, said on Thursday he was proud that Hawaii has become \u201cthe first state in the nation\u201d to take direct action challenging&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/citizens-united\">Citizens United<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs elected leaders, we do not serve artificial entities,\u201d Keohokalole said. \u201cWe serve the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe do not serve artificial entities. We serve the people.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenatorJarrett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SenatorJarrett<\/a> on Hawaii making history by getting dark and corporate money out of politics. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CitizensUnited?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CitizensUnited<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Se6HQyvRu8\">pic.twitter.com\/Se6HQyvRu8<\/a><\/p>&mdash; American Progress (@amprog) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amprog\/status\/2054955453440835807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 14, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>US Rep.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/greg-casar\">Greg Casar<\/a>&nbsp;(D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepCasar\/status\/2055319011349459324\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hailed<\/a>&nbsp;the law as \u201cbig news\u201d that should inspire opponents of limitless corporate political spending across the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections,\u201d said Casar. \u201cBut we are not powerless. We can fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new law passed despite opposition from Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, who argued that defending it in court could be difficult and expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The law\u2019s passage earned praise from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/campaign-finance\">campaign finance<\/a>&nbsp;watchdogs who have long called for overturning&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/citizens-united\">Citizens United<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;and reestablishing guardrails for corporate cash in US&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/democracy\">democracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Beckel, who directs the Money in Politics project for the advocacy group Issue One, said the Hawaii law is a \u201cmodel for the country\u201d that other states should rush to emulate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis measure&#8230; is among the most innovative and impactful ideas to curb corporate and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/dark-money\">dark money<\/a>&nbsp;spending in campaigns since the Supreme Court\u2019s disastrous Citizens United ruling in 2010,\u201d Beckel said. \u201cThose looking to bring more transparency and accountability to elections should embrace this powerful proposal and follow Hawaii\u2019s lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>End Citizens United, the nonprofit campaign finance reform organization dedicated to overturning the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, also pushed other states to look at Hawaii\u2019s law as a roadmap for their own legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHawaii has provided a blueprint for how to prevent super PACs from spending dark money by passing state law,\u201d the group&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StopBigMoney\/status\/2055313638328565908\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>&nbsp;in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/social-media\">social media<\/a>&nbsp;post. \u201cLet this win be a testament to the ability states have to put power back in the hands of everyday people by neutralizing the effects of the Citizens United ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom Moore, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress,\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/corporate-campaign-money-citizens-united-hawaii-71a28bc7e8f6e0279b31e999f222519a\" target=\"_blank\">praised<\/a>\u00a0the Hawaii law in an interview with The Associated Press, calling it \u201ca brave and bold step to get corporate and dark money out of America\u2019s politics\u201d that \u201cwill send a powerful message that will be heard loud and clear across the Pacific and across the mainland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attendees hold signs as they listen to speakers during a rally calling for an end to corporate money on January 21, 2015 in Washington, DC.&nbsp; (Photo by Drew Angerer\/Getty Images) \u201cThe far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections. But we are not powerless. We&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/48276\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48276"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48279,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48276\/revisions\/48279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}