The corporate Constitution

 Announcements  Tagged with: ,
Dec 062012
 

The first 200 years in court

The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights created government and rights of, for  and by the people. Nearly since their creation, however, these documents have been under assault by corporate interests, which have attempted to connect corporate rights to citizen rights. Writing during the early republic, Thomas Jefferson warned“I hope we shall crush… in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”

With apologies to Mr. Jefferson, here’s a condensed walk through two centuries of court cases that have incrementally given corporations the powers allotted to the people. Continue reading »

Corporate personhood: a danger to democracy

 Features  Tagged with: ,
Feb 132010
 

By Joy Arnold

Just as we are marveling at the inability of Congress to protect the environment and provide reforms in health care, financial structures, and election law, a recent Supreme Court ruling has affirmed our suspicions that the road block to congressional action is powerful corporations and their ability to obstruct the democratic process. Giving corporations even more power, last month the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the government has no power to prohibit corporate spending in candidate elections, overruling earlier precedents regarding the First Amendment rights of corporations.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205 case has just written the newest chapter in corporate personhood, a legal concept that corporations are persons and entitled to the rights of citizens. Continue reading »