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Newsletters
Jan 5, 2022
Glen Anderson interviewed two experts — Kai Huschke and Elliott Moffett — who have savvy insights and practical experience working to protect environments and establish legal rights for nature.
Read More | News from the GrassrootsNov 11, 2021
CELDF’s Kai Huschke was centrally involved in the first-in-the-nation Community Bill of Rights and Worker Bill of Rights. His chapter for the new book One-Block Revolution, details the community building behind the efforts.
Read More | PublicationsMay 21, 2021
In a small living room in one of the most economically neglected neighborhoods in the State of Washington emerged the work of Envision Spokane. A handful of local activists and residents asked themselves the question “why?” Why, after so many years of advocacy work on behalf of neighborhoods, renters, the houseless, small businesses, the uninsured,… Read more »
Read More | Blogs, News, Worker ExploitationDec 2, 2020
Save the Date! Join the Oregon Community Rights Network in this upcoming event on corporate constitutional rights.
Read More | Community Wires, EventsNov 4, 2019
Efforts are growing to not only determine how people vote, but what gets voted on. Your ballot measures are not yours to democratically determine.
Read More | Press Releases & BlogsJul 22, 2019
The corporate state attempts to strip democratic rights in Ohio and Washington state. CELDF supports communities as together they fight back.
Read More | Community Wires, News, Press ReleasesJun 6, 2019
With CELDF-supported attorneys, Tacoma, WA, residents filed a 1st Amendment petition with the Supreme Court challenging continued denial of ballot access for qualified citizen initiatives.
Read More | Community Wires, News, Press ReleasesJan 4, 2019
San Juan Islands residents in Washington work to advance the rights of the Salish Sea.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJan 2, 2019
Communities along the Salish Sea are organizing to advance the Sea’s rights to exist and flourish, free from toxic and other harms.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsMar 6, 2018
Snohomish County, WA, residents partner with CELDF to assert their democratic rights and stop aerial sprayed pesticides.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsDec 1, 2017
CELDF calls out the court in Tacoma, WA, for illegitimately vetoing the right of Tacomans to vote.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 17, 2017
A federal judge does not consider the people’s right to a healthy climate in a lawsuit filed by Spokane residents who are fighting to protect their community from fossil fuel activities.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 15, 2017
A federal judge uses “standing” to dismiss Spokane residents’ lawsuit asserting a right to a healthy climate, ignoring the urgency of climate change and the people’s rights.
Read More | Press Releases & BlogsJul 6, 2017
Spokane, WA, residents set to make their argument for a right to climate in federal court next week. CELDF filed a lawsuit on behalf of residents against the U.S. government in January.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsMar 10, 2017
Gig Harbor, WA, residents face over-development and environmental threats – and turn to the documentary We the People 2.0 and Community Rights for solutions.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsFeb 13, 2017
Seattle’s City Council withdraws financial ties with Wells Fargo over the Dakota Access Pipeline. Now it’s time for them to take the next step.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsFeb 1, 2017
Residents of Spokane, WA, file a federal lawsuit asserting the people’s right to a healthy climate.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsFeb 1, 2017
“Raging Granny” residents in Spokane, WA, file federal lawsuit for a right to a livable climate.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJan 31, 2017
CELDF files lawsuit against the federal government, asserting federal law preempting municipal control of fossil fuel rail shipments violates residents’ constitutional right to a healthy climate and local self-government.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsJan 31, 2017
CELDF files lawsuit against the federal government, asserting federal law preempting municipal control of fossil fuel rail shipments violates residents’ constitutional right to a healthy climate and local self-government.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsOct 30, 2016
Simon Davis-Cohen reveals escalating efforts to quash We the People from exercising our right to initiative. From fracking and water protection, to minimum wage and police reform, the corporate state is cracking down.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 6, 2016
Across the U.S., corporations and government officials are working to block We the People from exercising our right to direct democracy. As their efforts increase, so do ours, making possible the beginning of the Community Rights Movement, and the end of the corporate state.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 2, 2016
As fracking sweeps the nation, communities are using local initiatives to protect themselves – while industry spews propaganda and spends huge sums to stop them.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 26, 2016
While we may expect to see powerbrokers in both major political parties drown out grassroots voices, it’s happening at the local level as well. Local government officials and the judiciary act as corporate allies, killing the right to initiative across the U.S.
Read More | Community WiresJul 7, 2016
Tacoma local government allies with big business interests, using the courts to block Tacomans from voting to protect their water. Undaunted, Tacomans prepare for a statewide initiative, and plan to run Community Rights candidates for local office.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 4, 2016
Tacoma, WA, residents determine next move as a county judge denies their right to protect their local water through initiative.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJun 24, 2016
Local government and corporate interests in Tacoma, WA, collude to stop the City’s residents from their democratic right to initiative. Residents are advancing a rights-based measure to let the people decide when large corporate water uses are allowed.
Read More | Community WiresJun 10, 2016
Coal and oil trains passing through Spokane, WA, spark physician Gunnar Holmquist to take action, filing a CELDF-drafted Community Bill of Rights charter amendment banning the shipments as a violation of the right to a healthy climate and public safety.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsJun 9, 2016
The corporate state in Tacoma, WA, attempts “…to use the court as a weapon to strangle democracy in Tacoma.” Residents are advancing their right to initiative as they fight to protect their water from large commercial uses.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJun 7, 2016
Tacoma, WA, residents fight to protect their water while their own local electeds stand against them. Local government and business interests are suing to block a rights-based ballot initiative from a vote by the people. The measure would protect Tacoma water.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsFeb 28, 2016
In a move reflective of efforts by the corporate state to quash citizens’ initiatives across the U.S., the Washington Supreme Court recently denied Spokane residents the right to vote on their Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsNov 29, 2015
This November, Spokane, WA, residents led groundbreaking work in advancing worker rights, and made a stand for community rights in the Washington Supreme Court.
Read More | UncategorizedNov 10, 2015
After City and corporate interests kept Spokane residents’ 2013 Community Bill of Rights off the ballot, CELDF argues before the Washington Supreme Court to recognize the right of the people to initiative.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsNov 9, 2015
Learn the latest news from election day in Grant Township and West Chester, PA; Youngstown, OH; and Spokane, WA. And check out the launch of our new website!
Read More | News from the Grassroots, Press Releases & BlogsOct 26, 2015
With union and labor backing, as well as endorsements from local groups and nationally renowned Noam Chomsky, Spokane, WA’s, Worker Bill of Rights charter amendment will be voted on by residents next week. The bill of rights establishes a family wage, equal pay for equal work, and protection from unjust firings.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsOct 26, 2015
Residents supporting the Worker Bill of Rights in Spokane, WA, call out fear tactics used to dissuade voters, and press forward with their efforts to raise minimum wages, assure equitable pay standards, and protect against unfair firings.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsOct 4, 2015
Spokane, WA’s, Worker Bill of Rights initiative places worker rights over corporate privileges. “If we are about creating …sustainability, we can’t get there without actually challenging this idea that corporate rights should be greater than the community’s rights,” says Envision Spokane’s Kai Huschke.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 23, 2015
Spokane, WA’s Worker Bill of Rights asserts the right to community decision-making over corporate claimed “rights” to call the shots. And in Colorado, residents’ community rights state constitutional amendment asserts community decision-making over state claimed preemptive authority.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 11, 2015
Spokane, WA, residents qualified a Community Bill of Rights for the ballot for 2013. Corporate and government interests attempted to keep the measure off the ballot, and lost in an appellate court. November 10th the Washington Supreme Court will hear the case.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 9, 2015
Envision Spokane is asking a judge to throw out a legal challenge brought by the mayor against the group’s most recent ballot initiative.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 3, 2015
Not wanting communities exercising authority in the places where they live, business and government interests appeal a Washington appellate court decision to the Washington Supreme Court. The appellate court had ordered Spokane’s Community Bill of Rights on the ballot for a vote by the people.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 27, 2015
The Worker Bill of Rights is the fourth initiative from Envision Spokane, now operating under Envision Worker Rights, to qualify for the ballot. It would grant new protections and rights to workers in Spokane, a prospect that has the business community worried.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 26, 2015
While The Spokesman-Review got it right that all qualifying citizens’ initiatives should make it onto the ballot, the editorial board continues to get it wrong on corporate rights.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 14, 2015
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON: Judge Salvatore Cozza from the Spokane County Superior denied a preliminary injunction brought by the Mayor of Spokane to block the vote of a Worker Bill of Rights initiative, which is on the November ballot.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 12, 2015
Learn the latest news on Spokane, WA’s, Worker Bill of Rights, read Community Rights Paper #5 on Citizens United, and join us for the launching of the Ohio Community Rights Workshop.
Read More | News from the GrassrootsAug 12, 2015
CELDF assists Envision Spokane in asking a judge to dismiss efforts to keep the people’s Worker Bill of Rights off the ballot. Spokane, WA’s, mayor filed the lawsuit.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 5, 2015
As the City of Spokane sues its own citizens in an attempt to keep a Worker Bill of Rights off the ballot, this opinion piece points out the hypocrisy and the anti-democratic tactics of City Hall.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 3, 2015
The city of Spokane attempts to keep the people of Spokane from voting on their own Worker Bill of Rights, filing a lawsuit to block the duly qualified initiative from the November ballot.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 3, 2015
Despite the constitutional right of Spokane, WA, citizens to vote on their own Worker Bill of Rights, the City of Spokane files suit in an attempt to block the qualified initiative from the ballot.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots