Jennifer Dotson (Alderperson, 1st Ward) has proposed a resolution before the Ithaca Common Council calling for the city to express that it is in favor of amending the national Constitution. The resolution “Calling for an Amendment to the United States Constitution to Abolish Corporate Personhood” does exactly that. It attacks a status in America over 125 years old, established in 1886 when the Supreme Court ruled in Santa Clara Country v. Southern Pacific Railroad that corporations are legal persons under the Fourteenth Amendment.
A corporation has the legal right to sue and be sued. Corporations also pay taxes as a single entity.
“Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people,” stated Presidential-hopeful Mitt Romney when attacked for his position while campaigning at the Iowa State Fair. A YouTube video of Ron Paul refuting Mitt’s claim has gone viral.
Ms. Dotson’s resolution, described on the 18th page of the agenda for the upcoming Ithaca Common Council meeting, also attacks Mitt and the 125 year old precedent. Her logic, however, is skewed as a result of her manipulation of words. In her reasoning for calling for the resolution, Dotson attacks a corporation’s right to sue, stating:
“WHEREAS, the illegitimate judicial bestowal of civil and political rights upon corporations usurps basic human and Constitutional rights guaranteed to human persons, and also empowers corporations to sue municipal and state governments for adopting laws that violate ‘corporate rights’ even when those laws serve to protect and defend the rights of human persons and communities”
This proclaimed “illegitimate judicial bestowal” is in reality a series of Supreme Court decisions that contradict with Dotson’s views. The Resolution lacks a clear understanding of the difference between a “human being” and a “legal person.” By choosing to manipulate words and attacking petty definitions, Ms. Dotson overlooks true opportunities for reform. She chooses to drive home the fact that corporations are not “human beings” while ignoring the legal rights that a collection of people have. Instead, Ms. Dotson – who is also the Executive Director of the Ithaca Carshare initiative – pokes problems with the fact that corporations have so much money and power in the media.
No one would deny that corporations do not have human fresh, but this resolution expresses a clear misunderstanding of the fact that corporations are a legal collection of people with the basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the court room, this fact gives corporations the legal right to sue. In the political arena, this fact gives corporations the legal right to contribute to campaigns. A constitutional amendment denouncing corporations as legal persons is a denouncement of these longstanding precedents in our society.
