secondly there's a lawsuit being filed right now in the state of michigan going before the michigan supreme court certainly we've called on the u.s. attorney general eric holder by way of congressman john conyers and reverend jesse jackson myself we've been in d.c. as for eric holder to look in and use the powers of the attorney general's office to intervene in this matter and protect the right to vote but fourthly we legislate we agitate and we have a referendum but we also march in occupy us on january sixteenth in the tradition of the original occupy dr martin luther king who occupied in washington d.c. resurrection city fighting for a war not on the poor before war on poverty we in michigan will be occupying on january sixteenth at four o'clock at governess night is home with money to his home feeding in an album it's night of the usa in his backyard and so we have the referendum campaign we have the lawsuit we're calling on the federal government but we're going to put our feet on the street and we're going to march because we're not going to take it anymore dr king fought medgar evers' died

subject to challenge by the stockholders you talk about dodgy ford back in the thirty's and michigan supreme court i think that's the issue so because you just it's a different form of incorporation that is set up so that you are allowed to actually do things for the community and then if someone invests in that kind of a because they know what they're getting into and they support you for that reason then that takes the law just changes that wrinkle in the law and opens up ways for environmental or community contributions it's very interesting you know up until the the mid eighty's ninety's i think it was when it whenever kicked out john rockefeller and the charter modern era is about six or seven year period there were all the states were changing their corporate charter laws and this massive competition on these coasts the delaware end up winning all the new jersey ended up with john rockefeller. prior to that time pretty much every state the united states required that the first sentence of articles of incorporation be this corporations established to enhance or support or serve the community

. >> host: upheld by the michigan supreme court and recently in the new london case -- >> guest: okay. i agree with you that new london decision. >> host: i'm trying to show that corporate power disintegrates -- >> guest: listen, i mean, i know it does. >> host: listen, we don't have much more time, but i do want to ask you when you said religion, race, culture and tribe are the four horsemen of the coming apocalypse. would you add corporatism to that? [laughter] >> guest: there's only four, ralph. >> host: okay. would you say there are five? [laughter] >> guest: no. i'll tell you -- >> host: would you say that corporatism is part of -- >> guest: i think, look, corporatism is, you know, what it has become, i'll tell you what, you take religion and ethics, look, religion is the basis of ethics and morality, and when that goes, then i think -- and you've got powerful corporations, there's, they are, they're a lot even more dangerous in many way than individuals. no doubt about it. and do i believe in rampant corporatism? no. i don't -- i mean, i do agree, i don't agree with the pope on

. >>> in michigan, the state supreme court will hear arguments from two detroit emergency dispatcherseing sued after treating a 911 call from a 5-year-old boy as a prank. it turned out the boy was calling because his mother was dying of a heart attack. >>> and it is naomi judd's birthday. she turns 66 years old today. very happy birthday. >>> all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams on nbc "nightly news." >>> today, mitt romney goes one on one with matt lauer. >>> and the latest details on a bizarre bank robbery attempt involving a frightened 73-year-old grandmother and a fake ankle bomb. >>> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching earler, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a great wednesday. see you back here tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

supreme court made it much broader. this case involved a woman who was teaching at a lutheran school in michigan. she did teach some religion classes and did lead prayer. she had a disease, she got laid off. she said you can't fire me. i'm protected by the americans with disabilities act and today the supreme court said no, she cannot sue. the. the church is protected by religious freedom. the government should not be in second-guessing the decisions churches make when it comes to the employment of people who are involved in imparting the church's religious message. let me quote from the decision. it was surprisingly unanimous by chief justice john roberts, writing for his colleagues on the court. he said the interests of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important, but so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission." as you say, this was a unanimous decision but the court's liberals joined the conservatives here in reaching this decision. what does it mean? it means a

supreme court today. the justices ruled unanimously that religious employees of a church cannot be sued for discrimination. a michigan church employee sued the church over her firing. the court cited with the church skrigting exceptions to anti-discrimination laws. >>> joran van der sloot pled guilty to the murder of a peruvian woman in a lima hotel room. van der sloot told the court he was sorry for killing flores after he found her snooping on his laptop reading materials about the disappearance of natalee holloway. the judges are expected to make a final decision on his sentence this friday. iran is accusing the u.s. and israel for today's assassination of a nuclear scientist. the u.s. denies any involvement. a motorcycle hit man placed a magnetic bomb on the scientists car door as he drove down the street. this is the fourth assassination of an iranian scientist in two years. today's murder comes days after it was discover eed that iran w enriching uranium even faster than before. >>> coming up at 6:00 the new wave of smart phones helping you get social. we're going to take you live to vegas. >>> barbie's next en

founder of the michigan center for election law which hosts projects which support transparency and integrity in elections. in 2011, she was selected to serve with retired u.s. supreme court justice sandra day o'connor on the national board of directors. and a nonprofit created by justice o'connor to improve civics education throughout the country. she's a former member of the abas committee on election law, developed two protection efforts in michigan, published the book on the role of secretary of state in enforcing election and campaign laws and in 2010 was the michigan democratic party's candidate for secretary of state. she previously served as a law clerk to the honorable damon keith on the u.s. court of appeals and the sixth district. she earned her master's at oxford and her law degree at harvard. nice to have you here. obviously very smart. bob carey was appointed director of the federal voting assistance program in july of 2009. where's the rest of your bio? prior to that, he served as executive director of the national defense committee as a member of the board of directors of the overseas vote foundation. after graduating from the university of pennsylvania, h

states supreme court decided that in effect there's at least one place where employees cannot sue for discrimination, religious institutions. the high court ruled unanimously in the case of a michigan teacher fired from a lutheran school. she was fired after threatening to sue under the americans with disabilities act. the federal government sued the school but the court says the lawsuit was barred by the church's first amendment right to free exercise of religion. >>> all right. here's your first look at the other news going on around america today. last halloween surveillance cameras rolled on one man's drug fueled rampage through an upstate new york gym. the 240 pound member stormed through the facility tossing various items and ripping down equipment. police arrived and took the suspect down with stun guns. he died shortly after from cardiac arrest. an autopsy discovered steroids and pcp in his system. >>> heavy rain drenched huntsville, alabama, causing severe flooding that took many by surprise. rescue crews had a busy day as the down pour turned roads into rivers forcing officials to set up roadblocks and keep drivers safe. >>> finally, one l.a. artist is about to reveal his

supreme court said yes. here are the facts. a woman was a teacher at a lutheran school in michigan. two kinds of teachers, called or lay.d led students in prayer. she was a called teacher. she developed a disease known as narcolepsy that caused her to fall into deep sleep. she left for treatment. when she came back, they said we have no open positions. she threatened to sue. it would normally be tree in any normal workplace. then the church fired her. the federal government sued saying they were retaliating against her. today, they said this cannot be brought into court. it is barred by an exception that it would interfere with the church's ability to decide who will teach the message and who will be the ministers. they wrote the opinion for you nan mus court. he says the interest of society of enforcing discrimination laws is undoubtedly important but so, too, is the importance of religious groups who teach their faith and carry out their mission. it's historic. it's a very strong freedom of religion decision. and surprising because it's unanimous. >> thank you. one other breaking news story we want to get you up to da

a supreme court ruling yesterday i think of this this clip here pretty much sums it up. a fourth grade teacher at a lutheran church missouri synod school in michigan who mainly taught secular subjects but also taught religion and led prayers she took a leave of absence to get treatment for a sleep disorder when the school was reluctant to let her return she threatened to sue for violation of the americans with disabilities act. so basically what happened is the supreme court sided with the church saying of the church is allowed to fire people. despite what you want to call your first amendment rights and a lot of people feel that that i have a few things i mean first of all this woman was a teacher in a school and her disability was narcolepsy so when you're falling asleep in class in front of children that's tough but that's not what the supreme court case was about the supreme court case had to do with church and state and all justices took one side there wasn't even as a sort of a distant dissenting opinion written about this because they said that you know the courts should not get involved when it comes to the decisions of the church and i th

michigan case, dissenting opinion. and resolute of federal principles the united states term limits versus thornton, dissenting opinion. in 2007 he boasted to federalist society. one thing i have demonstrated in 16 years on the supreme court is you can do the job without asking a single question. end quote. >> with that, i'll say a few words of conclusion to draw this to a close. justice sutter's record was summed up. in his bush 41 oral history. i think sutter was more liberal than those involved in the selection process anticipated. or as governor sununu put it, wit slightly more pitt, to this day, anytime i go to a conservative meeting, 15 people come up to me and hit me with a sutter two by four across the forehead about bush's second supreme court nominee, thornburgh uttered a blandered truism, i think clarence is a solid conservatively oriented vote. president bush's supreme court appointments once on the bench occupied positions closer to the left and right of the spectrum than did their appointing president. sutter's nomination was the direct result of the bork debacle less sons, namely, don't appoint a scholar jurist who boasts opinions to his name. especially to the court swing seat. with his quiet persona, cred

and president of the michigan center for election law which host project to support transparency and integrity in elections. 2011 she was elected to serve with retired u.s. supreme court justice sandra day o'connor on the national board of directors. a nonprofit, great by justice o'connor to improve civics education throughout the country. she's a former member of the aba's election law develop and supervise to statewide nonpartisan election protection efforts in michigan, published the first major book on the role of secretary of state enforcing election and campaign laws, and in 2010 was the michigan democratic party's candidate for secretary of state. she served as a law clerk to the honorable damon keith on the u.s. court of appeals sixth district. she earned her masters at oxford and her law degree at harvard. glad to have you here. obviously, very smart. bob kerrey. bob was appointed director of the federal voting assistance program in july of 2009. where's the rest of your bio here? prior to that he served as executive director of the national defense committee, a member of the board of directors of the overseas vote foundation. after graduating from university

michigan. also in the news this morning, justices grappled with voting rights case that could help the house. a reporter for the "new york times" reports that several supreme courttices appeared frustrated -- another story here from bop "baltimore sun," the first native tried -- recognition was sweet, even if it came more than two centuries too late. he was one of hundreds who gathered beneath the statehouse dome in annapolis monday -- and won international news story, this one from the "washington times." austerity alone is not alone. boosting economic growth and the 17-nation eurozone as a priority. john joins us from indianapolis on the independent line. good morning. what you think about the new have to primaries? caller: i watch it because it tells me in on the candidates, but what i like to tell the american people is that all the republicans are telling us the same thing, tax cuts and deregulation. that is what has gotten us into the position that we are and now. do they realize that they are paying a lower federal tax than they have ever paid? the reason taxes are so high, the states are having to raise their taxes. and, you know, i would really like to

michigan on its 175th anniversary. i rise today to note the anniversary of an unfortunate event that is undermining the very core of our cherished democracy. this past saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the supreme court's disastrous 5-4 decision in a case called citizens united versus the federal election commission. with that feat of judicial activism, the conservative bloc of the supreme court gnawed a hole in the dike protecting our elections' integrity, and allowed unlimited anonymous corporate money to flood into our elections. senator mccain recently called this -- quote -- "one of the worst decisions in history." senator schumer said at the time -- quote -- "one thing is clear, the conservative bloc of the supreme court has predetermined the outcome of the next election. the winners will be the corporations." it's no secret around here that big corporate interests long have had oversized influence in the legislative and executive branches, but citizens united supersizes that influence so that it threatens to overrun our elections. here's how my home state newspaper, "the providence journal" explained it. the ruling will mean that more than ever big spending economic interests will determine who