Protest on campaign spending disrupts Supreme Court

Richard Wolf | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's decision five years ago allowing unlimited campaign spending by independent groups came back to haunt the justices Wednesday in the form of seven determined protesters.

Standing up one by one in the back of the marble courtroom and shouting demands such as "one person, one vote," the protesters from the group 99Rise were forcibly removed by court officers.

The cause of the protest: the five-year anniversary of the high court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which opened the floodgates to unlimited spending by often anonymous groups, along with corporations and unions.

"Money is not speech," one of the protesters yelled before being escorted out by armed officers. Other men and women rose and shouted phrases such as "We are the 99%."

As the nine justices sat silently, Chief Justice John Roberts tried to help the court officers by pointing out protesters. He twice tried to restart the proceedings — first by saying, "Our second order of business today..." then, when all the protesters were gone, by saying, "We will now continue with our tradition of having open court in the Supreme Court."

The group 99Rise, which protested and took surreptitious video inside the court last February, took credit for Wednesday's protest on its website and in a news release issued hours later. It claimed to have shot video Wednesday, despite tougher screening procedures instituted after the previous protest.

"Today, seven courageous 99Rise leaders stood up in the chamber of the United States Supreme Court to interrupt the justices, speak out against corruption and call on Americans to take action to defend democracy," the group said in a statement.

Though its tactics may have been disruptive, the group wasn't alone Wednesday in calling renewed attention to the high court's ruling five years ago. President Obama did likewise.

"Five years ago, a Supreme Court ruling allowed big companies – including foreign corporations – to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections," he said in a statement. "The Citizens United decision was wrong, and it has caused real harm to our democracy. With each new campaign season, this dark money floods our airwaves with more and more political ads that pull our politics into the gutter."

In February, Noah "Kai" Newkirk, 99Rise's co-founder, stood in the back of the court and shouted complaints about the decision in 2010. Later, 99Rise posted video of the protest from a small camera that had been sneaked into the court, which does not allow cameras.

Included was video that appeared to be from an oral argument in 2013 in another campaign-finance case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. The court's ruling in that case lifted the aggregate limit individuals can donate to candidates, committees and political parties during an election cycle.

Newkirk was arrested and charged with violating Title 40, section 6134 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits making "a harangue or oration, or utter(ing) loud, threatening or abusive language in the Supreme Court building." He spent a night in jail and was sentenced to time served.

Wednesday's protesters were charged with the same violation. Together with an eighth person, they also were charged with conspiracy-related offenses.

The seven people who disrupted the court Wednesday were identified by 99Rise as Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Curt Ries, Margaret Johnson, Mary Zeiser, Andrew Batcher, Katherine Philipson and Irandira Gonzales.

"We have seen the consequences of the free flow of private money rushing into our public political system," Ries said in a statement. "Nearly $4 billion was spent in the 2014 midterm elections, and almost all of it came from a handful of wealthy individuals and organizations. ... That's not a democracy, it's a plutocracy."

On its website Wednesday, the group asked for signatures on a petition reading, "I stand with the Supreme Court 7. We the people must overturn Citizens United, reverse McCutcheon and reclaim democracy for all in America."