"As you well know, none of those people you're so concerned about would have jobs if we went out of business.
"Thank you for clarifying that, Mr. Reese. I was under the impression that a corporation's first duty was to make a profit. But won't your stockholders, and more importantly, your Board of Directors, be upset to learn that the CEO would rather make some nameless soul happy than to turn a profit?
Reese glanced at Starling's reflection on the blank TV screen. "This isn't getting us anywhere, and my time is growing short, so I'll get right to the point. My sources tell me that your organization intends to use this as a test case, to see how far they can push the courts in reinterpreting laws written for people to apply to corporations.
Starling turned his palms up. "It wasn't my idea to give rights to corporate fictions. Business interests did it to themselves, starting with the railroad barons back around the Civil War. And until Consolidated Communications, they were happy with it, too. Commercial speech, and all that.
"But the death penalty?
"Of course. That is the sentence for murder, after all. If you want rights, you also get responsibility. Once the SandHill decision gave full citizenship to corporations, the courts were obligated to treat them just like anyone else. All Judge Clary did was decide how that would be carried out. So he dissolved the company, and forbade the officers from holding executive roles elsewhere. The rest was just a matter of assigning the assets, just like anyone else without a will.
Reese reddened. "Do you realize the effect that had on the entire business community?
"Of course. The same effect all you law-and-order types expect stiff sentences to have on people. Sauce for the goose, as they say.
"So what are you pushing for in my company's case?
"I thought about that on the drive over. As I understand it, money from the employees' self-insurance fund was pilfered in such a way that none of the people involved actually committed a crime. It was all very well planned and executed, if you don't mind me saying.
"Thanks. And it would have worked, too, had it not been for the SandHill decision. The same strategy was used successfully by several firms I know of in the past few years. The courts were stymied, and all of the charges had to be dropped. But now...
Starling looked out the window at the highway traffic. "There are really two aspects to this situation. The first one, the one the talking heads have been on about for weeks, is a clear case of grand theft by Fremont-Wayfarer. That was the whole point of the subterfuge that you and your associates carried out, with the tacit approval of the Board of Directors. It may have gotten those other folks off the hook, but this time, the charge can actually be made against the corporation.
"And if it's found guilty? How do you incarcerate a fictional person? Translating capital punishment to dissolution of the corporation wasn't much of a stretch. But a prison sentence? What might Judge Clary do, or more to the point, what will your organization agitate to have him do?
He tapped the table. "The way I see it, prison is a way to severely restrict a person's freedom and privacy. The privacy part's pretty obvious. Complete transparency. Extreme, even intrusive, oversight. No secrets.
Reese frowned. "Annoying, but endurable.
"Freedom, though. That's harder. Freedom means different things for a business than it does for a person, doesn't it?
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