Corporations are not persons. They are artificial entities. And as Stevens et al make clear,
"Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it. They cannot vote or run for office."
The Supreme Court's expansion of corporate free speech rights under the First Amendment further entrenches corporate power in the law of the land. It is a stunning setback for American democracy and a crime against the rights of ordinary people.
"We join with our grassroots allies in the Campaign to Legalize Democracy in support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove personhood rights and protections from corporations for all time," Price said, urging that concerned citizens visit the new website www.MovetoAmend.org and sign in support.
This opinion further entrenches the controversial legal doctrine of "corporate personhood" arising from the 1886 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Santa Clara railroad case. In this decision, the activist court asserted, without explanation, that the 14th Amendment, enacted to guarantee equal protection and constitutional rights to recently freed slaves, applied to corporations. As a result, corporations, artificial entities created by and subject to state laws, have successfully claimed many of the constitutional rights that real persons possess, even though the word "corporation" never appears in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
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