In January 2010, in a case of massive judicial overreach, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission that swept aside more than a century of legal precedent that banned corporate money from political campaigns. In this narrowly decided 5-4 decision, the Court overturned the foundation of America's campaign finance laws that had prevented wealthy individuals and large corporations from gaining even more influence over the American political system. Senator Sanders described Citizens United as "one of the worst decisions ever brought about by the Supreme Court of this country."

More recently, the Court’s McCutcheon decision did away with limits on how much individual donors may give to candidates and political organizations during a two-year federal election cycle.  Thanks to these disastrous rulings, the wealthiest individuals, corporations, and special interests are free to donate almost unlimited amounts to super PACs to influence elections and ensure elected officials are beholden to their policy interests. In fact, $4 billion was spent during the last election cycle, a record for midterm elections. Even more troubling, 70% of the money came from large donors who gave $200 or more.

For more than thirty years, Senator Sanders has been a staunch advocate for effective campaign finance reform that reduces the influence of special interests in the electoral process. To that end, he has introduced a resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution, making it clear that the right to vote and the ability to make campaign contributions and expenditures belong only to real people, not corporations. The Democracy is for People Amendment (S. J Res 4) would effectively prevent corporations from bankrolling election campaigns, and would give Congress and the states explicit authority to regulate campaign finances. Read an FAQ on the amendment.