We need to pass a constitutional amendment to strip corporate entities of their legal personhood

Corporate personhood is a legal precedent established in the 1800's that says a corporation is a person and has the same rights as an actual person. which is nice for corporations but not so nice for people. Slavery is the legal fiction that a person is property. Corporate personhood is the legal fiction that property is a person. After a series of lower court cases, the watershed moment came in 1886 when the Supreme Court heard a case called Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. Citing the 14th Amendment, and without hearing any arguments, the Supremes declared unanimously that corporations are persons deserving the law"s protection. There was no public debate about this and no law passed in Congress " corporations received the status of persons by simple judicial fiat. And they did this at a time when all women, all Native Americans, and even most African American men were still denied the right to vote. When you look at two-plus centuries of US legal history, the pattern is that people acquire rights by amendment to the Constitution " a long, drawn-out, difficult process " and corporations acquire them by Supreme Court decisions. Rights for corporations, because they"re about property, is about who is excluded; rights for human beings is about who is included. Once corporations had jumped the line, they proceeded to pursue the Bill of Rights through more Supreme Court cases. In 1893 they were assured 5th Amendment protection of due process. In 1906 they got 4th Amendment search and seizure protection. In 1925 it was freedom of the press and speech. In 1976 the Supremes determined that money is equal to speech, and since corporate persons have First Amendment rights, they can basically contribute as much money as they want to political parties and candidates. And so we find ourselves in a time when corporations have amassed enormous power and wealth, and control nearly every aspect of our lives, because they masquerade " under the law at least " as one of us. But most of us don"t know it. What would change if corporations did not have personhood? Well, here are a few examples. If corporate persons no longer had first amendment right of free speech, we could prohibit all corporate political activity " no more contributions to candidates or parties, no more lobbying. Just think of the ripple effect on our political process if no corporate money could contaminate it! Corporate persons are now protected against search without a warrant under the 4th Amendment. This means that OSHA and the EPA have to schedule their inspections at a time convenient to corporate managers. If you think the air, land, or water in your community is being polluted, or the workers mistreated, neither you nor the government can go on corporate property to get information without legal permission. Just think of the consequences if corporate polluters were no longer shielded by the Constitution! Without their protections under the 5th and 14th Amendments, corporations could be prevented from merging and owning stock in other corporations. We could leaflet in malls, we could pass laws against chain stores and cell phone towers, we could organize openly at work. If corporate personhood is eradicated, a floodgate of possibilities opens for citizen sovereignty to replace corporate governance. We think the campaign to end corporate personhood is like applying a massive crowbar at the most pivotal point against a stuck door holding back democracy. No more trying the key in the rusted lock; no more poking with a coat hanger here and kicking at a corner there. By focusing on the crucial block " corporate personhood " and applying enough force to pry the door open, the whole concept of what"s politically and humanly possible shifts in profound and exciting ways. We hope you"ll join us in this work and we look forward to creative collaboration as we reconnect with our sovereignty. Thank you!