Mission Statement

“We the people of the United States,” the first words of the US Constitution, make it clear that our government was established to serve the people. Our Constitution contains checks and balances in order to prevent abuses of power, and our Bill of Rights limits government in order to guarantee people certain fundamental rights and liberties.

Today our country is crippled by a so-called "Global War on Terror," which undermines those crucial limits on power that our Constitution promises. In the name of this "war," Congress has largely abdicated its constitutionally-mandated role to check executive power and to protect our rights. Congress's complicity has enabled violations of our Constitution including warrantless surveillance, torture, and indefinite detention.

What can we do?

Fighting against just one violation at a time fragments our movement. It is time to unite to face the common source of these problems. To do this, we need to make our elected representatives more beholden to their constituents and to their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution than to the power structure in Washington, DC.

The People's Campaign for the Constitution calls forth the power of the people to reassert our Constitution by joining forces around common beliefs and speaking to our elected representatives with a more powerful voice.

Goals of the People's Campaign for the Constitution

• Build a grassroots movement to bring Bill of Rights issues into a sharp national focus. This will include demanding changes to and/or repeal of:
  • The USA PATRIOT Act.
  • The Military Commissions Act.
  • The Detainee Treatment Act.
  • The FISA Amendments Act.
  • the use of the unitary executive theory, and related executive orders, policies, procedures, and administrative actions.
• Strengthen existing local coalitions formed to pass civil liberties resolutions, so that they may use their resolutions and take other actions to call for long-awaited restoration of liberties and human rights.
• Form new coalitions to hold public officials accountable for restoring civil liberties and constitutional protections.
• Harness the collective potential of people who are already working on aspects of the so-called “war on terror” and of the many more who would take action if they saw the potential for making positive change.
• Raise people’s expectations that legislators must serve at the pleasure of the governed, as the Constitution promises.
• Provide tools and support to assist local grassroots coalitions as they hold elected representatives accountable for upholding their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution.