By Hadas Kuznits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Activists in Philadelphia today gathered for a rally marking the third anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

“Get the money out of politics!” chanted members of nearly two dozen organizations in Love Park.

The Philadelphia coalition — and others around the country — were demanding that lawmakers pass laws to supersede the Citizens United ruling, “which is the Supreme Court case that said that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money to promote political candidates,” explains Steve Masters, team leader for Public Citizen in Philadelphia, one of the organizations that planned the anniversary rally.

(One sign says, “I’ll believe a corporation is a person when I see one walking its dog.” Photo by Hadas Kuznits)

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“Our whole democracy is really threatened now,” Masters told KYW Newsradio.  “Corporations have been given the green light to buy any candidate that they want, and we’ve seen that in the last election with all the superPACs pumping in millions and millions of dollars.”

Masters says his group is working toward adding a ballot question addressing Citizens United in Philadelphia in May, and getting a resolution passed by the Pennsylvania state legislature supporting actions that would negate the 2010 Supreme Court decision.