Clarence Thomas, one of five justices who ruled in favor of so-called corporate personhood

“Occupy the Courts’ is a phrase, a concept, a suggestion that has bounced around within the uprising that has come to be called the 99% movement almost since its inception. For some it has been a response to the constant call for specificity and focus, an acknowledgement that much of what has created such hideous income disparity in this country is based on laws that have to change. For others Occupy the Courts has been a notion forwarded to suggest class action suits in reaction to police brutality and violation of First Amendment rights within the Occupy movement.

On November 1^st progressive author and radio host Thom Hartmann suggested via online video that the Occupiers focus on federal courthouses and on the little known right wing Federalist Society of whom 5 of the 9 justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are members. During the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this year noted academic, activist and philosopher Dr. Cornel West was arrested during protests on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C..

Earlier this month the activist organization Move to Amend cited Dr. West’s example when it announced its intention to organize a national day of protest at federal courthouses throughout the country on January 20^th, 2012. The name of these protests? Occupy the Courts. In the days since this announcement over 100 like-minded organizations have either endorsed, partnered with, or begun their own efforts in support of this planned day of protest.

On a personal level as a former Occupy committee member and an ongoing organizer at Point Nine Nine, I have always stressed the notion that the courts, or more specifically the laws governing our elections are where the battle lines are drawn. Essentially the whole ball of wax is the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Committee.

Most of those likely to be reading these words are familiar with the implications of this case. We grasp that at its core the Citizens United ruling is a cornerstone of the monstrosity that is the notion of Corporate Personhood. In truth it is simply the corporate lobby’s most powerful instrument. It is built on a foundation that teeters precariously on a twisted mis-statement of the intentions of the 14th Amendment and a choice by a small state court to act on the notion that the theory of natural and non-natural persons would automatically be carried over from British common law.

What came as a shock to me and perhaps would shock other concerned parties were recent polls that showed more than two thirds of Americans had no idea what Citizens United was at all, let alone the shaky foundations behind the ruling. I shuddered to learn that the court decision which most influences the electoral process and thus the policy making that governs their everyday lives sits in the collective blind spot of most Americans. With that knowledge in hand I know where my own creative energies and the organizational and communication capacities of my organization are best applied. With that understanding of widespread public naiveté I know what comes next for those determined to right the ship and I ask… what better action is available in the service of our democracy and the education of our fellow citizens than to Occupy the Courts?