Corporate Personhood

"Democracy can't exist where corporations are exercising all the same rights as citizens -- they suck all the air out of the room; and we're stuck, for example, with corporations that use the right to remain silent to conceal harmful product ingredients, and use the right of free speech to bury election opponents under an avalanche of corporate money."

--Noro Lim

In March, 2005, a judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit against Saint Thomas Development, Inc., upholding that corporation's claim to its constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment. You can read an online article about the history of the corporation seeking permission to build a limestone quarry and other facilities and an online article about the community challenging the constitutional rights of the corporation. You can read about the March, 2005 ruling here and here on the voicesweb.org site of Voices of Central Pennsylvania.

In 2003 Marc Kasky sued Nike and accused them of lying in one of their public relations campaigns about not using sweatshop labor to produce sneakers. Nike did not dispute the facts of their ads, but instead argued that the corporation had a 1st Amendment right to free speech. You can get more details on this at the ReclaimDemocracy.org site.

For corporations, money equals free speech, and its use is protected by the 1st Amendment. Therefore they are legally allowed to engage in activities that were once considered bribes. (The Ohio legislature recently passed a bill that increases the limit on these bribes from $2,500 to $10,000!)

It took years for the Ohio EPA to enforce its regulations on the factory egg farms of Buckeye Egg. Corporations can deny a regulatory body's access to their facility based on the 4th Amendment (protection against illegal search and seizure.) No more surprise inspections; now the EPA has to make an appointment!

In 1998 Omnipoint (which is now T-Mobile) was denied a permit for a cell phone tower in Wellfleet, MA. Omnipoint sued for the permit plus damages and attorney's fees under the 14th Amendment (equal protection). You can read an online article about this from the May/June 2003 UU World.

In 2002 Synagro Corporation, a sludge hauling company, sued Porter Township, PA over laws aimed at stopping sewage dumping in their town. Synagro claimed the 14th Amendment protected them from this kind of discrimination. You can read more about the case at this site.

After Mayfield Heights, Ohio banned gas companies from drilling in its community, the Ohio legislature passed legislation to take regulation of gas wells out of the hands of municipalities and turn it over to state regulators. The bill was passed after oil and gas industry lobbyists doubled their contributions to the sponsors of the bill.

When the Massachusetts State Legislature passed a ban on corporate contributions to political advertising, a consortium of businesses sued, based on their 1st Amendment right to free speech, and the court struck down the legislation.

In January, 2005, the EPA agreed to permit factory farms to pollute the air without restrictions, counter to the provisions of the Clean Air Act. You can read more about it at this site.