Title
Supporting an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide that corporations are not persons.
Body
WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the People has long been a cherished American value, and a fundamental and inalienable right of the People to self-govern and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-governance; and
WHEREAS, Citizen's United v. Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010), rolled back legal limits on corporate spending in the electoral process and allowed unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions, thereby threatening fair elections by and for the People; and
Whereas, The Court's decision in Citizens United hampers the ability of federal, state, and local governments to enact reasonable campaign finance reforms and regulations regarding corporate political activity; and
Whereas, in his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens recognized that "[u]nlike natural persons, corporations have 'limited liability' for their owners and managers, 'perpetual life,' separation of ownership and control, 'and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of assets' . . . corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their 'personhood' often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of 'We the People' by whom and for whom our Constitution was established," 130 S.Ct. 876, 972, and
WHEREAS, corporations are not and have never been human beings; and
Whereas, corporations should not be personified and granted constitutional rights guaranteed to individual human beings such that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is a form of constitutionally protected speech above r...
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