Now, you are aware, some entire boards of directors can be indicted and prohibited from conducting business (until the investigation is complete). Oh, and their cars can even be towed. It's all in the accordion file.
Posted on 03/07/2018 6:46:00 PM PST by null and void
Somewhat unintuitively, American corporations today enjoy many of the same rights as American citizens. Both, for instance, are entitled to the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. How exactly did corporations come to be understood as “people” bestowed with the most fundamental constitutional rights? The answer can be found in a bizarre—even farcical—series of lawsuits over 130 years ago involving a lawyer who lied to the Supreme Court, an ethically challenged justice, and one of the most powerful corporations of the day.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Corporations are groups of people. There, was that supposed to be complicated?
It seems to have worked better here.
Clearly, corporations are royalty, you stupid peasants.
Who do you think first implemented gay rights?
Better for whom?
Unions. They donate over a billion dollars a year to Democrats.
American Maoists (aka: The Rat Party) would *love* to take away the "free speech" rights of corporations but would howl like stuffed geese if unions were silenced.
When lawyers are involved, everything has to be complicated...
William O. Douglas thought trees and birds should have constitutional rights.
I think the article is total nonsense. For starters, no jurisprudence holds that “corporations” have “freedom of religion.“ What it does hold is that corporations can function as a legal individual. They can make contracts, be held liable for civil damages, and so on. It is true that campaign donations by corporations, along with other entities, cannot be entirely banned, and it is this that really drives the anti-freedom left crazy. But the fundamental issue is that individuals functioning through the corporate entity (profit or nonprofit) retain the freedom of speech even though they choose to speak to these entities.
The idea of a corporation as a single legal actor goes all the way back to Roman times. The idea as an existing legal doctrine appears in Blackstone’s commentaries. A major case involving the right of a chartered corporation not to be subject to arbitrary treatment involved Dartmouth university, of all corporations, in the late 18th century. The state of New Hampshire wanted to take it over, and the university sued, saying this was a breach of contract. (The University had been established under a corporate charter granted by George III.)
This idea that corporations suddenly got rights because of the shenanigans of Roscoe Conkling and a few others has been kicked around in the more feverish of the anticorporate literature for a long time. It has all the hallmarks of a good conspiracy theory —sinister villains, devious behavior, and brave reporters trying to get the truth out. I’m amazed it gets the traction it does.
One of the more important victories for economic freedom, and for the subsequent spectacular rise in prosperity in the United States, was the introduction of general incorporation (as opposed to the specific corporate charters like it only be granted by the state after a specific application, which therefore generated an immense amount of corruption, with East India Company being the most famous example) by state legislatures in the early 19th century.
I can hardly wait now for The Atlantic to be in favor of ZERO tax on corporations, since they are not PEOPLE who can be taxed.
We won WWII...
Yeah. Well, I prefer Bill Whittle's explanation of Corporations.
THAT'S why.
Thanks, got it.
Total? Mostly I'd buy.
So do a lot of current liberals...
How exactly did abortions come to be understood as “privacy” bestowed with the most fundamental constitutional rights? The answer can be found in a bizarre—even farcical—series of lawsuits...
Great post! This is why I love FR, thanks!
I used to believe that.
Now, you are aware, some entire boards of directors can be indicted and prohibited from conducting business (until the investigation is complete). Oh, and their cars can even be towed. It's all in the accordion file.
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