We the People Massachusetts is a left-of-center advocacy organization that campaigns for the Massachusetts state legislature to call a convention to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution that would eliminate constitutional rights for businesses and require Congress, states, and localities to significantly restrict campaign speech. ¹

Background

Founded in 2015, We the People Massachusetts is a nonprofit advocacy organization that is based in Massachusetts and campaigns in support of an amendment to the United States Constitution that would overturn the Citizens United v. FEC decision. It also supports the proposed Massachusetts We the People Act, which would call for a constitutional convention to consider amending the U.S. Constitution to do so. We the People Massachusetts has seven local chapters across the state that organizes activists to campaign for the We the People Act. ²

We the People Massachusetts states that HJR 48, referred to as the We the People Amendment, is the only legislation that it claims would be sufficient in overturning the precedent set in Citizens United v. FEC. It advocates for HJR 48 because it argues that it is the only proposed policy that would sufficiently eliminate all Constitutional rights for businesses, claiming business activities are separate from the behavior of individuals, and because it also would require all levels of government to enact policies that would require civic engagement, such as campaign finance speech, to be limited to the extent that all citizens could participate with so-called “more equal access.” ³

In addition to advocating for support from activists, We the People Massachusetts advocates for smaller businesses to advocate for the We the People Act. It claims that larger businesses use their right to campaign speech to “veto” legislation by allegedly paying legislators to enact policy that allows larger businesses to have a monopoly. It differentiates between small and large businesses, terming large businesses ”corporations.” ⁴

Activities

In the run-up to the 2018 Massachusetts general election, We the People Massachusetts campaigned in support of ballot Question 2 had worked to get it on the ballot. The initiative was passed and convened a commission called “Citizens Commission Concerning a Constitutional Amendment for Government of the People,” which discussed proposing two amendments to the United States Constitution that would allow Congress and state legislatures to enact policy that would limit campaign finance speech by any person or legal entity, allow additional limits on campaign finance speech on businesses and other legal entities, and limit all constitutional rights to exclude businesses and other legal entities. ⁵

During the 2019 and 2020 Massachusetts Congressional session, We the People Massachusetts stated that it exclusively campaigned in support of HJR 48, arguing that it was the only policy being proposed that would restrict campaign finance speech to the extent it believes is necessary. It claimed that U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) had proposed an amendment, S.J. 31, that is too “weak” in regards to limiting campaign finance speech and eliminating constitutional rights from businesses. We the People Massachusetts also criticized S.J. 31 for not requiring all levels of government to place restrictions on campaign speech. ⁶

People

Lyn Newkirk is the founder and executive director of We the People Massachusetts. She is a self-employed accountant based in Massachusetts. ^{7 8}

1. “Why Support the We the People Amendment Proposal in the U.S. Congress?” Weymouth: We the People Massachusetts, February 11, 2019. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54af41e6e4b0fce9b5d8e645/t/5c67061ef4e1fce252bb7ab4/1550255647674/why-support-wtpa.pdf
2. “We the People Massachusetts.” We the People Massachusetts. Accessed March 4, 2023. http://www.wethepeoplemass.org/.
3. “Why Support the We the People Amendment Proposal in the U.S. Congress?” Weymouth: We the People Massachusetts, February 11, 2019. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54af41e6e4b0fce9b5d8e645/t/5c67061ef4e1fce252bb7ab4/1550255647674/why-support-wtpa.pdf
4. “Why Business People Should Support the We the People Act  (H.1926, S. 379).” Weymouth: We the People Massachusetts, n.d. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cVHrFXp8_Xhj7lCBQ__aH4DMXYGlqoeApH3i5eCmdMM/edit?usp=sharing
5. “Citizens Commission.” We the People Massachusetts. Accessed March 5, 2023. http://www.wethepeoplemass.org/citizens-commission.
6. “The We the People Amendment.” We the People Massachusetts. Accessed March 5, 2023. http://www.wethepeoplemass.org/the-we-the-people-amendment.
7. “Lyn Newkirk.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 5, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyn-newkirk-7b16486.
8. “Make a Donation Today.” We the people massachusetts. Accessed March 5, 2023. https://wethepeoplemass.salsalabs.org/DonationFormSuitableforReferencing/index.html.