Justice Party (United States)

Justice Party
Chairperson Laura Bonham, Jonathan Ruga (co-chairs)[1]
Founder Rocky Anderson
Founded November 2011 (2011-11)
Split from Democratic Party
Ideology Populism
Social democracy
Progressivism
Environmentalism
Social justice
Political position Center-left[2]
Colors Teal and White
Slogan "Economic, Environmental, and Social Justice for All"[3]
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House
0 / 435
Governorships
0 / 50
State Upper Houses
0 / 1,921
State Lower Houses
0 / 5,410
Website
Official website

The Justice Party USA is a political party in the United States. It was organized in November 2011 by a group of political activists including former Mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson as an alternative to what he saw as a duopoly of the two major political parties. One of the major goals of the Justice Party is removing corporate influence and other concentrated wealth from politics.[4]

History

Former Mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson is the founder of the Justice Party and the party's 2012 presidential candidate

In December 2011, it became a qualified party in Mississippi, the first state to recognize the party.[5] From a small beginning, 30 persons at the launching event with no TV crew covering it, the party was able to put its founder, Rocky Anderson, on the ballot in 15 states and secure official write-in status in 15 additional states. It was the fifth largest third party in terms of presidential ballot access in the 2012 presidential election.[6] On October 23, 2012, Rocky Anderson, the Justice Party candidate faced off with other 3rd party candidates Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, Jill Stein of the Green Party and Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party, for a debate moderated by former CNN talk-show host Larry King.[3] They met again to debate on November 5, 2012, this time hosted by Ralph Nader.[7]

The party released a draft statement endorsing Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination rather than nominating its own candidate, but no official announcement has been made.[8]

Ideology and positions

The Justice Party was created with the motto "economic, environmental, and social justice for all".[3] The party was designed with the intention of shifting government back to a focus on the Constitution by removing corporate influence in politics.[3]

Economic justice

The Justice Party supports campaign finance reform; and does not accept any corporate funding. The Justice Party supports a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood through Move to Amend. The party is in favor of a financial transaction tax, pro-progressive tax structure and wants to end the Bush tax cuts. They support green jobs and infrastructure programs. The Justice Party wants to bolster social security by raising the cap on payroll taxes. It wants to require that banks work with homeowners to stop foreclosures. It is pro-immigration reform, pro-breaking up large banks, pro-reinstating Glass–Steagall, pro-government funded higher education,and against subsidies to oil and gas companies.[9]

Environmental justice

The party is for aggressive climate protection. It is against the Keystone Pipeline; and advocates transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The Justice Party supports a ban on mountaintop removal and wants to strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency.[9]

Social justice

The Justice Party supports a universal single payer health system, an equal rights amendment for women, marriage equality, ending wars of aggression, closing many military bases, reducing the budget, immigration reform, repealing the USA PATRIOT Act, protecting and rewarding whistleblowers, and ending the War on Drugs. The party also seeks to prosecute individuals whose illegal conduct led to the 2008 financial crisis.[9]

Candidates

In the 2012 elections, the party had candidates for the following offices:

References

Specific
  1. ↑ "Justice Party - Leaders". Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Presidential Hopefuls Meet in Third Party Debate - PBS NewsHour Extra".
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The 'other' presidential debate: Third-party candidates make their cases". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  4. 1 2 Romboy, Dennis "Rocky Anderson forms Justice Party, plans to run for president", Deseret News, November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  5. ↑ Winger, Richard (December 29, 2011) "Justice Party qualifies for Mississippi ballot", Ballot Access News. Retrieved December 30, 2011. Archived May 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Winger, Richard (October 1, 2012) "2012 Ballot Status for President" Ballot Access News. Retrieved November 1, 2012. Archived November 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Singer, Paul (November 5, 2012). "Nader's third-party debate raises alternate issues". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  8. ↑ Wachtler, Mark (2016-01-22). "Opposition Left divided over Bernie Sanders". Opposition News. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  9. 1 2 3 "Policy of the Justice Party". The Justice Party's website. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011.
  10. ↑ Canham, Matt "Rocky Anderson launches presidential campaign at sparse gathering", The Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  11. ↑ Gehrke, Robert (July 17, 2012). "Rocky picks activist-author as his VP running mate". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Utah Federal Senator". Daniel Geery. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  13. ↑ "If you want a truly independent voice in Congress you need to vote for a truly Independent candidate! Vote Torin Nelson.". Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  14. ↑ "2012 Candidate Filings". Elections. Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office. 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
General
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