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Justice PartyIn the Public Interest
Prospectus and Action Plan
Twelve December Two Thousand Eleven
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Justice Party
Prospectus and Action Plan -In the Public InterestA prospectus and action plan for co-founding the Justice Party as a major new
political party dedicated to waging justice and creating a World that works for
everyone.
I. Context & Rationale
More than 235 years ago a group of courageous patriots got together and decided to takea stand against the tyranny of their colonialist rulers. The "act of declaration" they took
was an awesome moment in which our forbearers took a stand with great risks. They
understood that the outcomes were uncertain, yet they stepped forward with a boldcommitment to ensure that all Americans living then and in future generations would
have the opportunity to live under a government that protected the inalienable rights oflife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Despite the immense triumphs of our nation over the past two centuries, as we enter thesecond decade of the 21st century, we are alarmed with the grave state of our nation. For
many Americans the idea of the American Dream is collapsing right before them. It has
become evident to us that the current system is unworkable and that we can no longer
resign ourselves to cynicism and settling for the status quo. Our current two-partypolitical system is completely broken to the extent that our leaders at the local, state, and
national level, including President Obama, his administration, and the U.S. Congress are
utterly incapable of effectively serving the interests of the American people. Thefounders of the Justice Party believe that the chief cause of this failure is the systemic
corruption that allows corporate and concentrated-wealth interests to wholly control the
two dominant political parties and our entire political system.
We believe that the recent US Supreme Court Decision, Citizens United vs. FederalElection Commission, that allows corporations to make unlimited and secret corporate
expenditures for specific candidates, will further entrench corporate control of ourpolitical system. Moreover, we believe that a diversity of political voices is essential at
this moment in history, as the rules governing our political system and the current two
party systems are designed to sustain entrenched corporate-driven power. Ultimately,this problem can only be fixed through a reform of the U.S. Constitution.
We believe that our country urgently needs a political discourse among diverse and cross-
partisan citizens to join forces to address the pressing immediate and long-termchallenges that the country faces.
At this juncture, we believe that all disenfranchised and disillusioned Americans,
including those from within all existing political parties, along with those not currently
active in the political system, have a moral responsibility to seek immediate solutions to
the problems our country is facing. Our actions in this moment of history will have alasting impact on the lives of citizens living in this time, as well as, upon the lives of their
children, grandchildren, and subsequent generations.
This document is a prospectus for the Justice Party which we envision as a major newpolitical party that will be a major political force for decades to come. The Justice Party
seeks governing authority at the local, state, Congressional and Presidential levels,
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beginning in the 2012 election cycle. The Justice Party is being created as a new 21st -
century political vehicle to allow all citizens to work together to bring innovative results-
oriented, justice-based solutions to the political debate as soon as possible. We are filledwith hope, we are taking a stand, we are taking risks, and we are taking bold action now!
II. Proposed Justice Party Founding Principles1
As co-founders of the Justice Party, we are joining forces based on a set of shared
principles:
We are patriots. We believe in the greatness of Americas national ideals. Webelieve America has an indispensable purpose in the World: to demonstrate, by
example, the power of peace, freedom, equal opportunity, and justice for all;
We are dedicated to bringing integrity to the intentions of founding
documents of our nationincluding the Declaration of Independence, The U.S.Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We are dedicated to advancing justice,peace, and freedom. America was founded in freedomfreedom to speak, to
worship, to choose whatever path to happiness suits us bestbut that freedom
comes with an equal responsibility to country, community, family, and the World.
We believe that justice-based values are what enable a free and just society to
regain its strength. These values are pragmatism tied to principle; honesty and
integrity; hard work and personal initiative; self-sacrifice and self-discipline;
fairness and compassion; competitive striving and fair play; a desire to serve thenation and advance justice in solidarity with the rest of the World.
We believe that we should measure the nations progress by whether every
citizen has a fair shot. We believe that all citizens should have the opportunityto advance on the basis of talent and merit, and by the degree to which we
promote the common success of all of our citizens. Additionally, we believe that
we should measure the nations progress towards addressing complex global
challenges, including disease, illiteracy, climate change, poverty, and strategicinsecurities as central priorities towards advancing Americas moral leadership.
We believe that we should measure a citizens worth by contribution to
country and community, not by wealth or power. Those Americans who
benefited most should contribute in proportion to their good fortune and servingothers should be esteemed more highly than serving self.
III. Proposed Founding Objectives
Objective 1: Economic & Jobs Justice
Reverse the quickly growing economic disparity among Americans throughcomprehensive tax reform, significant housing and jobs bills (particularly green
jobs), justice for workers, and fair treatment of seniors, veterans and others whose
1DerivedinpartfromTheTruePatriot,APamphlet,byEricLiuandNickHanauer
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resources are in jeopardy. We are committed to the proposition that social and
economic justice is an essential and vital American value.
Objective 2: Electoral JusticeEnding political hate, polarization and demonization through significant electoral
reform that promotes direct democracy by changing the way elections arefinanced and how Congress allocates resources is critical for achieving a just
society.
Objective 3: U.S. & Global Health JusticeU.S. healthcare reform that moves the U.S. rapidly towards a performance-based
healthcare system that is cost-effective and efficient. At the global level, mobilize
support for full funding of the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria to endthe scourge of these global pandemics and build health systems.
Objective 4: Environmental Justice
Stabilize concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, while ensuring
that economic development and food production are enabled in a sustainable
manner.
IV. Action Plan
The initial Co-Founders of the Justice Party National Committee are joining together to
form the Justice Party Steering Committee, Sub-Committees and State/Geographic
Committees. Decision-making will be made by consensus or through a majority rule ofmembers needed to approve any decision or policy. All structures and positions are
considered provisional, pending approval of the delegates at the Founding Convention.
A. Justice Party Steering Committee (JP-SC)
The Justice Party Steering Committee (JP-SC) is a committed group of Americans whoare dedicated to the formation of the Justice Party as a major new political party that can
achieve governing authority at the local, state, and national levels, as soon as possible,
starting in the 2012 Election cycle. The Justice Party Steering Committee will overseethe work and be responsible for decision-making on all strategies and plans of the Sub-
Committees, State/Geographic Committees, and Action Teams that are formed to take
forward particular priorities.
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B. Justice Party Sub-Committees
The initial Justice Party Sub-Committees being formed are:
1. Justice Party Governance Sub-Committee: The Justice Party Governance Sub-Committee will be charged to develop the Justice Party National Committee
Charter, bylaws, structure and governance proposal, including staffing of the
Party. The Justice Party Governance Sub-Committee will develop a nomination
process for national level candidates, and a certification process for theCongressional, state, and local-level candidates.
2. Justice Party State/Geographic Sub-Committee: The Justice Party NationalCommittee is actively calling for the formation of State and other GeographicCommittees as soon as possible. Other geographic Committees are to be formed
in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, and Native American
tribal nations. Initially, the Justice Party State/Geographic Committees will becharged with establishing a diverse committee, elect officers, develop a charter,
bylaws, and rules, acquire certification from the Justice Party National
Committee, identifying delegates to attend the 2012 Founding and Platform
Conventions, lead the Force for Justice: Ballot Access and Get Out the Voteinitiatives, and to identify and certify candidates for local, state, and
Congressional candidates.
3. Voices for Justice Sub-Committee: The Voices for Justice Sub-Committeewill seek to mobilize diverse groups of Americans to support the Justice Party.
The Voices for Justice Sub-Committee will develop and implement a cross-
partisan outreach strategy. The Voices for Justice Sub-Committee will networkintensively with Occupy Together Movement and other movements to promote
convergence of ideas, principles, and policies. The Voices for Justice concept
will be developed to support a deliberative dialogue of diverse range of views in
support of generating the 2012 Justice Party Platform.
4. Force for Justice: Ballot Access and Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) Sub-Committee: The Force for Justice: Ballot Access and Get Out the Vote(GOTV) Sub-Committee is charged to lead efforts to ensure that the Justice
Party is on the ballot in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories
in the 2012 election cycle. Additionally, this Sub-Committee will be responsiblefor a national Get-Out-The-Vote effort. The first phase priorities are: Priorities
for Formation: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Utah, and Vermont.
5. Justice Party Legal and Finance Sub-Committee: The Justice Party Legal andFinance Sub-Committee will be charged with establishing the legal structure and
bylaws of the new party should be developed. Additionally, the legal committeeshould lead efforts to develop a state-by-state action plan for getting onto the
ballot for the 2012 and 2014 election cycles. Additionally, the Legal Committeewill establish rules and procedures for the operations of the Justice party,
including financial and administrative management systems.
6. Justice Party Founding Convention Sub-Committee: The Justice PartyConvention Sub-Committee will be responsible for the detailed planning,including rules for decision-making, agenda, logistics, media/communications,
venue, documentation, and use of participatory decision-making technologies.
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7. Justice Party Fundraising Sub-Committee: The Justice Party Fundraising Sub-Committee will be charged with developing an interim fundraising policy thatwill be reviewed and approved by the Justice Party Steering Committee.
Subsequently, the Fundraising Committee will develop a fundraising policy for
the Justice Party and a resource mobilization plan, included a web-basedfundraising strategy.
8. Justice Party Platform Sub-Committee: The Justice Party Platform Sub-Committee will oversee the formation of the Justice Party Platform IssueCommittees and the process for negotiating and developing the 2012 JusticeParty Platform by July 2012.
C. Justice Party Founding Convention, February 17-19, 2012 in Salt
Lake City, Utah
A total of 1500 people are being targeted for participation. Proportionally representativedelegations from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, US territories, and
Native American tribal nations will participate. The specific outcomes of the Justice
Party Founding Convention include:
Agree on the Justice Party Prospectus and Action Plan Agree on the Justice Party Charter and bylaws
Agree on Justice Party rules, structure, and governance, including certification ofState/Geographic Committees and candidates
Elect Members and Officers of the Justice Party National Committee
Agree and approve Justice Party Fundraising policy and guidelines
Nominate Justice Party Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates
Agree on the Justice Party Strategy for 2012 Electoral Victory
Form and Charge the Justice Party Platform Issue Committees
Agree on the plan to convene a Justice Party National Platform
Assembly/Convention in July 2012 in Philadelphia, Pa, to adopt the JusticePartys 2012 Platform
Provisional Program
Day 1, 17 February 2012, Committee Meetings
Committee Meetings, all day
Arrival of Delegates
Evening Reception for Delegates
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Day 2, 18 February 2012, Founding Convention
Adoption of Rules
Election of Committees & Officers
Nomination speeches for President & Vice-President candidates
Evening Dinner
Day 3, 19 February 2012, Founding Convention
Form Platform Issue Committees
Adopt Plan for Platform Convention, proposed for 1-3 July, 2012 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania
Nominate President and Vice-President Candidates
D. Justice Party Formation Team
The Justice Party National Committee Formation Team will be charged with managing
the day to day operations of the party and to support the work of the Steering Committee
and Sub-Committees. Initially, members are serving as volunteers. As soon as possible,a paid staff of the Justice Party National Committee will be established.
Please provide feedback and comments at http://americanidea.justicepartyusa.net/
Regular Updates will be provided at www.justicepartyusa.org