Coke Quits Group Behind 'Stand Your Ground'

Coca-Cola has ended its membership in a conservative group that backs "stand your ground" laws like the one at the center of the Trayvon Martin case. Much of what the American Legislative Exchange Council promotes is pro-business legislation, but it has also pushed voter ID laws and stand-your-ground laws across the country, NPR reports. "We have a longstanding policy of not taking positions on issues that don't have a direct bearing on our company or on our industry," says a Coke rep.

Coke's move quickly followed an online movement by ColorOfChange.org urging the company to abandon ALEC over its voter ID work, which some say limits minority votes. "You can't come for black folks' money by day and try to take away our vote by night," said a ColorOfChange official. Pepsi abandoned ALEC in January, and while it didn't attribute the move to the group's legislative efforts, the firms have decided to quit the group as many investors and corporate leaders begin to take a closer look at their companies' politics. "They're scrutinizing their trade association memberships, their relationships with controversial institutes," an investor tells NPR. (More Coca-Cola stories.)