A proposed Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to establish that (1) a corporation is not a person, that (2) money is not equivalent to speech, and (3) to clarify and explicitly protect and extend certain rights of the people under this Constitution.
Section 1 [A corporation is not a person]
Corporations and other artificial entities, which are established and defined by the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state, shall not be construed as possessing any of the rights that are explicitly defined in the Constitution of the United States for a person. People are persons, and a person, as used in the Constitution, is defined as a living, breathing human being.
The privileges, constraints, and regulations applied to corporations and other artificial entities shall be determined by the citizens, through laws enacted by Congress or the states.
Section 2 [Money is not speech]
Subject to regulations, limits, and prohibitions established by the Congress and the states that are intended to reduce or prevent corruption, the appearance of corruption, or undue, inappropriate, or disproportionate influence that would tend to violate equal protection of all persons under the law, any Citizen of the United States, and of a particular state, may make expenditures with the intent, or having the effect, of influencing the election of any candidate for public office, or any ballot measure, or any legislation, regulation, enforcement, or judicial deliberation proposed or before any agency of that citizen’s state, or of the government of the United States.
Parties other than citizens shall be prohibited from making such expenditures or efforts.
The source and amount of any expenditures that have such effect or purpose shall be publicly disclosed if the aggregate amount from that source in one year exceeds 100 times the current federal minimum hourly wage, or a lesser amount if so established by Congress or the states.
Expenditures of material wealth, including those that have the effect or purpose of influencing elections or government action, shall not be construed as speech under the First Amendment.
Speech is a message, performance, or perception, created by a person.
Section 3 [The rights of the people, strengthened and protected]
The right of the people: to freely speak, publish and broadcast; to freedom of religious expression including freedom from imposed religion; to peaceably assemble; to petition for redress of grievances; to be secure from persistent surveillance without warrant issued for probable cause, and describing the person or place to be monitored during times other than war that has been declared by the Congress under Article I section 8 of the Constitution; and to keep and bear arms other than weapons of mass destruction; shall not be violated, and shall be upheld by the United States and by the several states.
Subject to reasonable legislation enacted by Congress or the states respecting age or competency, the right of a citizen to vote in public elections and to have that vote counted, shall not be infringed or abridged.
See Part 1 of this 2 part argument.
See Part 2 of this two part argument.
“Corporations v. Persons – the Struggle that will define the 21st Century”
Other essays spotlighting this problem and its consequences.
[...] Proposed Constitutional Amendment to establish beyond doubt that a corporation is not a person in the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, that money is not equivalent to speech in the meaning of the First Amendment, and to protect certain rights of the people in the Constitution. Like this:LikeBe the first to like this. Leave a Comment [...]
Pingback by Clinch the Mock Trial, and ace your Thesis with this Argument: (Part 2 of 2) A Corporation does NOT count as a Person, under the U.S. Constitution « hearts and minds — July 25, 2012 @ 4:22 pm |
[...] Proposed Constitutional Amendment to establish beyond doubt that a corporation is not a person in the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, that money is not equivalent to speech in the meaning of the First Amendment, and to protect certain rights of the people in the Constitution. Like this:LikeBe the first to like this. Leave a Comment [...]
Pingback by Win the Debate Contest with this Argument: (Part 1 of 2) A Corporation is a Party, NOT A Person, under the U.S. Constitution « hearts and minds — July 25, 2012 @ 4:28 pm |
You’ve been quiet: glad to see you are still keeping the rest of us informed…I value your opinion.
Comment by Christina S — July 25, 2012 @ 9:45 pm |
Good job I”M glad sonebody has a brain in Ozaukee county
Comment by Donald Debroux — July 29, 2012 @ 6:33 pm |
Hearts and Minds – use ‘em or lose ‘em.
Comment by clydewinter — August 4, 2012 @ 9:03 am |
Mid-August 2012/Blk. Bear Coffee Shop/Vernonia, Oregon…had the opportunity to meet the mind of Clyde Winter in the heat of summer. Clyde left me with a copy of his screed: Corporations v. Persons. I am very impressed, Clyde. You know how to do your homework and I would consider you of the mind of the finest constitutionalists. You are no “stumblebum”…you are the oracle. Thanks for the “slavery loophole”…thanks for the “sets of precedents”…thanks for the census/Congress link-up to non-living legal entities. I consider this info a master-stroke of a man that knows how not to fear knowledge. Keep on keeping on, Clyde.
Try this link at your discretion: archive.org/details/positionforeign01hendgoog
Res Ipsa Loquitur
Mark J. Akers
Vernonia, Oregon
Comment by Mark J. Akers — August 21, 2012 @ 7:10 pm
Love, LOVE the concepts in this. We need to get this out there and spread it around. The wording should be used in laws.
Comment by justinstump — August 16, 2012 @ 2:26 am |
This is a core issue. It affects everything: immigration, money in politics and the loss of democracy, health care,the environment, you name it. I challenge anyone to give me an issue that wouldn’t be improved by this Amendment….and I’ll show you how it WILL improve the situation for We the People!
Examples of problems created by corporate personhood: a corporation is a person, therefore they use the 4th Amendment to require a warrant before EPA and OSHA inspections – if they’re cheating, of course, and need a warning to clean up (and if they’re big enough and rich enough to have legal counsel). So it’s mostly big corporations that use OUR inalienable rights against us, not the little ones. They use free speech to drown out We the People, because if money = speech, then No money = no speech.
Big (not little) corporations also use free speech to actually withhold information. This is a recent legal decision: example-NOT labeling our corn and soy products as genetically modified. It is estimated that 80% of what we eat is genetically modified., and not labelled as such.
So we’re saying this: corporate hegemony has to go, which means a corporation should not be equal before the law to a person.
We are not saying corporations shouldn’t have rights, we’re saying they are not people. It’s more than money in politics.
WE the People are the sovereign, governing, ruling sector. This is what the American Revolution was all about. Our Constitutional rights are what make us the rulers, or sovereigns. When you give our Peoples’ rights to corporations, they become sovereign, or rulers, too. THEY ARE OUR INVENTION AND SHOULD NOT BE EQUAL TO US BEFORE THE LAW! Our government is our invention, too. We need to be in charge of that, too, which we are not, now, because of the rights of corporations and money = speech.
We are now 1/3 of the way to getting this before our National legislatures: 13 states have passed resolutions asking for a Constitutional Amendment to this effect, Maine passing one last week.
Corporations want us to leave out corporate personhood abolishment for a very good reason: that’s where their real power lies.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead (1901 – 1978)
ONWARD! WE SHALL PREVAIL!
Your friend in the struggle,
Mary Laan
Chair
S.E. Wisconsin Move to Amend
Comment by Mary Laan — May 5, 2013 @ 12:13 pm |