Corporate Personhood and Restoring Citizen Control over Corporations - A Resource Guide

[marmar]

"... it's ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They're totalitarian institutions - you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There's about as much freedom as under Stalinism."

- Noam Chomsky




From ReclaimDemocracy:


NOTE: You can link to any of the documents, court cases, organizations or case studies listed below from this page: http://reclaimdemocracy.org/personhood /


Introduction to Corporate Personhood

Our Bill of Rights was the result of tremendous efforts to institutionalize and protect the rights of human beings. It strengthened the premise of our Constitution: that the people are the root of all power and authority for government. This vision has made our Constitution and government a model emulated in many nations.

But corporate lawyers (acting as both attorneys and judges) subverted our Bill of Rights in the late 1800's by establishing the doctrine of "corporate personhood" -- the claim that corporations were intended to fully enjoy the legal status and protections created for human beings.

We believe that corporations are not persons and possess only the privileges we willfully grant them. Granting corporations the status of legal "persons" effectively rewrites the Constitution to serve corporate interests as though they were human interests. Ultimately, the doctrine of granting constitutional rights to corporations gives a thing illegitimate privilege and power that undermines our freedom and authority as citizens. While corporations are setting the agenda on issues in our Congress and courts, We the People are not; for we can never speak as loudly with our own voices as corporations can with the unlimited amplification of money.

Read our draft constitutional amendment to revoke corporate constitutional "rights" and offer your thoughts.

Overviews

Our Hidden Corporate History
This overview of the rise of corporate power in the U.S. also is available as a 2 page flier (pdf), making a great handout.

Timeline of Personhood Rights and Powers
by Jan Edwards (pdf)

Current Controversies Relating to Corporate Personhood
A Blow Against the Corporate Empire
A California county blazes a trail that should inspire action in many other communities.

Wal-Mart Lawyers Claim Class-Action Suit Would Violate Corporation's "Civil Rights"

Democracy v Corporate "Free Speech" -- Corrupting the Ballot Initiative Process

Digging Deeper: Articles, Briefs & Books
Recommended Articles

The Hijacking of the 14th Amendment by Doug Hammerstrom (pdf)

Santa Clara Blues by William Meyers (pdf). Also in HTML format

Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation by Richard Grossman and Frank Adams

Personalizing the Impersonal: Corporations and the Bill of Rights by Carl Mayer.
Recommended for lawyers or those interested in a detailed legal history (70 pp html).

When Silence is Not Golden: Negative Corporate Free Speech by Dean Ritz

Abolish Corporate Personhood by Molly Morgan and Jan Edwards.

The PBS program NOW compiled some useful resources on the topic for this 2005 episode.

Recommended Books

The People's Business by Charlie Cray and Lee Drutman

Gangs of America by Ted Nace

Unequal Protection by Thom Hartmann

When Corporations Rule the World by David Korten

The Transformation of American Law 1870-1960 by Morton Horwitz (for those interested in detailed legal background). See also Volume 1: 1780-1860.

Significant U.S. Court Cases in the Evolution of Corporate Personhood / Commercial Free Speech

Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
Corporate charters are ruled to have constitutional protection.

Munn v. State of Illinois (1876)
Property cannot be used to unduly expropriate wealth from a community (later reversed).

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886)
The substance of this case (a tax dispute) is of little significance, but this fateful case subsequently was cited as precedent for granting corporations constitutional rights. Several articles linked above detail how this happened.

Noble v. Union River Logging Railroad Company (1893)
A corporation first successfully claims Bill of Rights protection (5th Amendment)

Lochner v. New York (1905)
States cannot interfere with "private contracts" between workers and corporation -- marks the ascension of "substantive due process."

Liggett v. Lee (1933)
Chain store taxes prohibited as violation of corporations' "due process" rights.

Ross v. Bernhard (1970)
7th Amendment right (jury trial) granted to corporations.

U.S. v. Martin Linen Supply (1976)
A corporation successfully claims 5th Amendment protection against double jeopardy.

Marshall v. Barlow (1978)
The Court creates 4th Amendment protection for corporations -- federal inspectors must obtain a search warrant for a safety inspection on corporate property.

First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
Struck down a Massachusetts law that banned corporate spending to influence state ballot initiatives, even spending by corporate political action committees. Spending money to influence politics is now a corporate "right." Justice Rehnquist's dissent is a recommended read.
Related articles: * Ballot Initiatives Hijacked * Behind the Powell Memo

Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Comm. of NY (1980)
This oft-cited decision concerns a state ban on ads promoting electricity consumption.

Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990)
Upheld limits on corporate spending in elections.

Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (2002)

Nike v Kasky (2002)
Nike claims California cannot require factual accuracy of the corporation in its PR campaigns. California's Supreme Court disagreed. The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case on appeal, then issued a non-ruling in 2003.

Campaigns to Revoke Corporate Free Speech

Nike v Kasky was one of the highest profile court cases to date regarding "corporate free speech." The case concluded with a settlement on September 12, 2003. We have preserved the large body of material we produced and collected relating to this case, which represents all side of the issue here. We soon will add a new, more general page focusing on commercial speech issues.

We used Kasky v. Nike to advance public understanding and legal arguments against granting corporations constitutional rights. Our work included filing a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, doing talk shows around the country, and confronting the ACLU on its support for corporate personhood at the expense of human freedom. Please read and endorse our sign-on letter to the ACLU, which urges their directors to reverse their advocacy of corporate personhood. This 3 page letter offers a more detailed argument than the above flyer and links to our endorsement form to urge the ACLU to change position. We hope to resume actively campaigning to change the ACLU from within when funding allows.

In summer, 2004, we initiated a new campaign aimed at revoking corporate "rights" to influence ballot initiatives and referenda (related article). We'll publish much more on this front in the months ahead.

Groups Challenging Corporate Personhood

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
has extensive information available as part of a study packet: Challenging Corporate Power

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
does notable work to revoke corporate power in Pennsylvania and is the source for two of the initiatives listed below

The Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
helped inspire the work of many other organizations listed here, ours included

The Aurora Institute
educates and organizes on corporate power issues in Canada, where corporate legal history has closely matched that of the U.S.

The New Rules Project
serves as a clearinghouse for democracy-enhancing local and state legislation, much of it challenging corporate power

Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County
works effectively at the community level in California

Redwood Coast Alliance for Democracy
has several informative articles and works on related issues in Northern California.

Initiatives Challenging Corporate "Rights"

Pennsylvania Township Passes Ordinance Rejecting Corporate "Rights" -- a First in U.S. Report on the Porter Township Ordinance

The Wayne Township Ordinance This successfully enacted legislation bars recidivist corporations from operating in the Township.

Corporate Personhood Ordinance Model legislation to revoke personhood locally

Non-binding resolutions have been passed in Point Arena and Arcata, CA and, most recently, in Berkeley, as a symbolic stand and educational tool.

Anti-corporate Farming Laws This Nebraska law is one of several such state laws denying corporate "rights" in agriculture.

Party Platform Planks Opposing Corporate Personhood In June 2004, Washington state's Democratic Party became the latest to officially oppose corporate personhood -- a tactic that lends itself to being used in almost any locale. Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Maine have passed similar policies.

Two New Jersey legislative bills would revoke corporate personhood within the state and ban corporate political spending. View either the first or second draft bill in pdf.

Other Websites of Note

Unequal Protection This website by Unequal Protection author Thom Hartmann includes model ordinances for every state which would eliminate Constitutional privileges for corporations within individual municipalities and another set to amend state constitutions.

[pathwhisperer]

1. Great post, thanks

I'm going to have to print this out to read it carefully.

"in our economy corporations are essentially given sociopathic freedoms. Not surprisingly sociopaths often then climb to the top."
http://pathwhisperer.wordpress.com /

[marmar]

2. No problemo.....

.... If you use the link, you can click on any of the docs for much more info.

[marmar]

3. 4 Recs Kick!

:kick:

[DLnyc]

4. Constitutional Amendment Limiting Corporate Power

I read somewhere Jefferson originally wanted to include an article prohibiting corporate monopolies. Seems like a very good idea to correct this flaw.

[warren pease]

5. There's also the corporate death penalty...

Here's a link to an old post of mine detailing the corporate death penalty concept and including links to sources that describe the process, how to make it happen, relevant case studies (not too many, unfortunately) and other basics.

I like the idea of ending their "personhood" status, but I like the idea of turning these malevolent fictitious persons into rotting corpses even better.


wp

[Norrin Radd]

6. kr

[Agony]

7. Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy

Group that has been around since 1994 working on this issue. http://www.poclad.org/

Just FYI.

Thanks for the post, this is one of the top issues to be pushing for reform.

Cheers!

[nichomachus]

8. 26 words

Right now, corporate directors have a legal responsibility to make money for the corporations and the stockholders -- everything else be damned. What corporate law states is:

...the directors and officers of a corporation shall exercise their powers and discharge their duties with a view to the interests of the corporation and of the shareholders....

Robert Hinkley, a former corporate attorney, http://www.workplacespirituality.info/HowCorpLawInhibitsSocialResponsibility.html">suggests we add the following:

but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, the public safety, the communities in which the corporation operates or the dignity of its employees.

Currently, corporate directors can be held legally accountable if they consider any of the above in detriment to increased profits. Adding his words, would make them accountable for more than just profit.

[tbyg52]

9. K,R,&bookmarked

The unchecked corporations are the problem. Our current government is just a symptom.

[Indenturedebtor]

10. Great post. Kick n/t