PV social worker takes leading role in movement to do away with ‘Citizens United’

Mary Lindsay, in front of the television camera at the Occupy the Courts protest.

Stirred by her deep feelings about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, a Prairie Village clinical social worker has become a leader in the local movement to overturn the decision.

Mary Lindsay, who has had her clinical practice at Corinth for more than 20 years, is a central organizer for the Kansas City affiliate of Move to Amend, a national movement whose goal is to get a Constitutional amendment passed that reverses the effects of Citizens United. In Kansas City, a capstone victory was convincing the city council in Kansas City, Mo., to pass a resolution in June supporting the amendment efforts.

For Lindsay, her involvement was sparked by a 2010 visit to KC by two brothers, the Monahans, Vietnam veterans who were walking across the U.S. on behalf of the movement. That resulted in organizing the KC affiliate and the petitions, protests and speaking engagements that are part of the action. The affiliate marked the anniversary of the court decision with an “Occupy the Court” demonstration in front of the federal court in Kansas City, Mo., last January.

Lindsay says that she used to “hustle” to find groups to speak to in her efforts to educate people about the movement and the issues. Now, with campaign season in full swing and lots of money pouring into the election, she is getting steady invitations, including next month to the Johnson County League of Women Voters.

Move to Amend wants to change two principle tenets of the court ruling: that a corporation is a person and the money is the equivalent of speech. “Neither is in the Constitution,” Lindsay says. The national group has offered specific language for the amendment it is proposing.