Why Corporations are NOT Persons and Money is
NOT Speech, how the Supreme Court got it wrong
– and what we can do about it.

What is the proposed 28 th
Amendment to the Constitution?
Section 1 A corporation is not a person and can be regulated:
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the
People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 Money is not speech and can be regulated
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
Why is this amendment needed?

Tired of Political Corruption?

Of politicians you can’t trust?

Even when you try to clean House?

It’s the $$$$$ Corrupting the System

Our Founding Fathers and Former Presidents warned us about
Mega-Corporations

about concentrated wealth . . .

about the corrupting influence of megacorporate money . . .

about the Military-Industrial Complex

What did they do?

They strictly controlled corporate power.
To get a corporate charter in many states, you had to
Get approval by house, legislature and governor
Prove both a public and private need
Set a time limitation – often 35 years
Have a single purpose - could not purchase, own, or be on the board of another company
Restrain from lobbying or giving money to any elected officials

assessed stiff penalties for violations
Monetary Fines
Imprisonment
The “corporate death penalty” – having the charter of a domestic corporation revoked for any infraction
Have your right to do business in that state forfeited if a “foreign”
(out of state) corporation

encouraged small, local , communitybased businesses
Encouraged entrepreneurial activity
Gave preferential treatment to small and medium-sized community-based businesses
Taxed local businesses at a lower rate
Created economic stability in local communities
Kept cash local

and introduced the Constitution with:
We the people . . .
Three branches
Checks and balances
The people are the ultimate check and balance

But all that was turned upside down in
1886
When a cheeky supreme court clerk included the headnote in a case pitting railroads against state laws: “
The defendant corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the 14 th Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States which forbids a state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection under the law.”

Even though,
For the first 75 years after the revolution, corporations could only exist if they served the public interest
They had to be chartered by the
State Legislature, their stockholders and businesses had to be local, and they couldn’t own other corporations
They couldn’t donate to political or charitable causes

Even though . . . the 14 th Amendment was passed to protect the rights of former slaves, not corporations
All persons born or naturalized in the
United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States of any State deprive any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law

Even though . . .
The definition of Person appears to be clear –
“all persons born or naturalized in the United
States,” neither of which can logically apply to a corporation
There is no evidence that those who passed the
14 th Amendment were referring to corporations in any of their correspondence or discussions

Even though . . .
The issue of corporate personhood had been argued by the railroad companies for a decade but they had NEVER prevailed on the issue
Justice Waite specifically said “the court does not wish to hear arguments on the question whether the provision in the 14 th Amendment to the constitution applies to these corporations.”
There was no explicit ruling that the court finds that corporations are people under the 14 th
Amendment
Headnotes have NO legal standing

because . . .
The writers of the 14 th amendment did not specifically include the word Natural before the word Persons
The Supreme Court Justice Morrison Waite had specialized in defending railroads but did not recuse himself
Although the court in the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, specifically stated “the court does not wish to hear arguments on the question whether the provision in the 14 th Amendment to the constitution applies to these corporation.” Justice
Waite then added “We are of the opinion that it does.”

And, so, history repeats itself

The inevitable result?

State laws banning corporate $$$ in politics overturned (6/12/2012)

Mega Corporations lobby and get to deduct their lobbying expenses!!!
12,000 – 14,000 registered lobbyists in Washington DC
– 22-26 for each member of congress
Total spent annually – 3.5 billion
GE spent $84.35 million lobbying, received $4.7 billion in tax rebates ‘08-10 spent 52.34 million lobbying during same period
Boeing spent 52.29 million
FedEx spent 50.81 million
60 corporations spent “$1.6 million in lobbying fees to persuade
Congress to create a special low tax rate that they could apply to earnings from their foreign operations for one year.” It took three years to pass, “saving the companies roughly $100 billion in taxes.” Washington Post

buy themselves huge tax breaks
29 paid no taxes at all in 2008-10 made $10,480 million profit; received $4,737 million US subsidies; paid minus 45.3% taxes made $32,518 million profit; received $951 million US subsidies; paid minus 2.9% taxes made $9, 735 million profit; received $178 million
US subsidies; paid minus 1.8% taxes made $49,370 million profit; received $681 million US subsidies; paid minus 1.4% taxes made $4,903 million profit; received $34 million US subsidies; paid minus .7% taxes

shift taxes to small business
Small businesses must pay all of their taxes whereas large businesses use loopholes that allow them to hide profits overseas

write regulations to stifle competition
Monsanto – danger from genetically modified foods determined by manufacturers, consumers not notified, testing would only occur when companies wanted it to,
Veggie Libel Laws
Monks and Minow, Presidential Task
Force on Regulatory Relief – We typically found that business representatives continually sought more rather than less regulation, particularly when the new regulations would limit their liability or protect them from competition.

and drive out small businesses
Larger companies have moved offshore; smaller co’s don’t have the resources to do so.
Eliminating competition by buying it; government gives special tax breaks
Chain stores can dominate because they have the resources to fight laws communities enact that may be favorable to local business.

The time has come . . .
to return to our forefather’s vision . .

with the one issue that can unite us

and restore the American Dream

Corporations are NOT Persons and money is NOT Free Speech

We, the People of the United States of
America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's
Citizens United ruling, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
How would this change things?

Wipe out corruption
Regulate corporate lobbying
Eliminate corporate financial contributions or gifts to politicians
Political donations this cycle alone:
Las Vegas Sands – $11,758,600
(Sheldon Adelson pledged $71 million for the general election, more than any one other person)
Goldman Sachs – $4,769,941
Comcast – $2,774,151
They aren’t expecting nothing!

Support real entrepreneurs
Allow communities to give tax breaks and preferential treatment to small business
Let local communities determine which businesses will operate in their locale
Eliminate regulations with exemptions for mega-corporations that burden small business
Eliminate mega-corporation tax loopholes so that the tax burden falls more equitably on all business enterprises
Eliminate tax incentives for shipping jobs overseas

Strengthen the middle class
Return to the states the responsibility to regulate corporations
Restore equality of speech –
Money does NOT equal Free
Speech
Restore equality of the vote – one person, one vote, not one dollar, one vote.
Return the politicians to the people – when corporate money no longer reigns, our wishes will
Ensure that politicians respond to voters to be re-elected

Why Move to Amend?
Clean and simple
No need for a labyrinth of complex regulations written by lobbyists themselves to perpetuate their power
No need for vast bureaucracies to micromanage the rules
Returns more power to local states to decide how they want to deal with political corruption
Other versions provide exemptions

Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the
People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal,
State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure. Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.

Talk to your Neighbors, Hold a House
Party

Stamp Your Money!

“Perpetual monopolies were harmful to the longterm trading interests of any nation. They raised prices artificially, encouraged waste, fraud and abuse and, in India, had interfered with the sovereign interests of the British government.”

www.MoveToAmend.org