Opinion ID: 2031083
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Is the Plaintiffs' Expression of their Views on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution?

Text: Since corporations must usually expend moneys to communicate their views, the 1972 statutory amendment's prohibition effectively prevents the plaintiffs from expressing their views to the electorate on the proposed referendum. The plaintiffs contend, therefore, that the 1972 statutory amendment as applied to them and on its face violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution [13] and arts. 16 [14] and 19 [15] of the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution. The Attorney General argues that the plaintiffs, because they are artificial legal entities, are not protected by the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court has, however, held that although corporations are not citizens within the privileges and immunities clause of § 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Orient Ins. Co. v. Daggs, 172 U.S. 557, 561 (see Waters-Pierce Oil Co. v. Texas, 177 U.S. 28, 45; Hemphill v. Orloff, 277 U.S. 537), they are persons within the meaning of the due process clause of § 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. See, generally, Covington & Lexington Turnpike Rd. Co. v. Sandford, 164 U.S. 578, 592; Smyth v. Ames, 169 U.S. 466, 522. The Attorney General relies on some Supreme Court and Federal cases which seem to indicate that artificial persons such as corporations are not specifically protected by the liberty clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, even though they are persons protected by the property clause of the due process provisions. [16] See, e.g., Northwestern Natl. Life Ins. Co. v. Riggs, 203 U.S. 243, 255; Western Turf Assn. v. Greenberg, 204 U.S. 359, 363; Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496, 527 (opinion of Mr. Justice Stone); Hallmark Prod. Inc. v. Mosley, 190 F.2d 904, 909 (8th Cir.). The Attorney General concludes from these cases that since a corporation cannot claim protection under the term liberty in the due process clause, a corporation cannot claim a right to freedom of expression, because that is a liberty protected by the First Amendment, not a property right. We cannot agree. The Supreme Court has channeled First Amendment liberties through the Fourteenth Amendment to protect some corporations. In Grosjean v. American Press Co. Inc. 297 U.S. 233, 244, the court stated: That freedom of speech and of the press are rights of ... fundamental character, safeguarded by the due process of law clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgement by state legislation, has likewise been settled by a series of decisions of this Court beginning with Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 666, and ending with Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697, 707.... Appellant contends that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to corporations; but this is only partly true. A corporation, we have held, is not a `citizen' within the meaning of the privileges and immunities clause. Paul v. Virginia, 8 Wall. 168. But a corporation is a `person' within the meaning of the equal protection and due process of law clauses, which are the clauses involved here. We have also afforded certain corporations First Amendment protection. Brattle Films, Inc. v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 333 Mass. 58. Krebiozen Research Foundation v. Beacon Press, Inc. 334 Mass. 86. In the past we have spoken broadly of the liberty of the press to be afforded corporations. In Bowe v. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 320 Mass. 230, we addressed ourselves to the question whether a labor union enjoys the same liberty of the press as individuals. The case was decided under arts. 16 and 19 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights but the freedoms in question were held comparable to First Amendment freedoms. We said, The liberty of the press is enjoyed, not only by individuals, but also by associations of individuals such as labor unions ( Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496), and even by corporations, although a corporation is not a `citizen' and must find its protection against abridgement of its liberty by State action in the due process clause ... of the Fourteenth Amendment (emphasis supplied). [17] The Bowe case, supra, at 251. The Attorney General correctly points out that in those cases where corporations have been afforded First Amendment protection they have been engaged in the business of communication, such as the publication and distribution of newspapers, books, films and magazines. Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 266. But we believe that freedom of speech and freedom of the press in their application to corporate entities cannot be so strictly limited. Moreover, the United States Supreme Court has indicated that the prospect of profit gained from a corporation's communication will not oust that communication from First Amendment protection: It is urged that motion pictures do not fall within the First Amendment's aegis because their production, distribution, and exhibition is a large-scale business conducted for private profit. We cannot agree. That books, newspapers, and magazines are published and sold for profit does not prevent them from being a form of expression whose liberty is safeguarded by the First Amendment. Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, supra, 501-502. The mere fact that views on referenda issues materially affecting the plaintiffs' business emanate from corporations engaged in general commercial pursuits (as opposed to corporations in the business of communications) should not totally preclude the expression of these views. It is true, of course, that there is a distinction between the plaintiffs' business pursuits and pursuits of corporations in the business of communication. But we believe that it is a distinction that does not defeat the plaintiffs' right to First Amendment protection, at least in circumstances where they seek to express their views to the public on referenda issues that materially affect them. We need not decide now whether in all instances a business corporation can claim the same First Amendment protection afforded individuals or corporations primarily engaged in communications.