DAVE ROSS

There is at least one state where corporations are NOT people

Jan 6, 2012, 8:15 AM | Updated: Jan 7, 2012, 9:58 am

Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: There is at least one state where corporations are NOT people

Last year, the US Supreme Court famously declared that when it comes to buying political ads, corporations are people, and the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech applies to them too.

But last week the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling in defiance of its superiors in DC, and said that regardless of what the Supreme Court thinks, Montana’s OWN restrictions on corporate cash would remain in place.

SO THERE!

The Montana vote was 5-2 — but even one of the dissenting judges was frothing at the Supremes! I quote dissenting judge James Nelson:

“Corporations are NOT persons. Human beings are persons, and it is an affront to the inviolable dignity of our species that courts have created a legal fiction which forces PEOPLE — human beings — to share fundamental rights with soulless creatures of government.”

He went on to ridicule the high court for granting corporations human right but NOT imposing any responsibilities. “Indeed it is truly ironic that the death penalty and hell are reserved only to natural persons.”

So it looks like this case is headed right back to the Supreme Court — to see if they have the guts to impose the some human responsibilities on these humanized corporations.

If a human corporation causes injury or death, why shouldn’t that human corporation be DIS-incorporated? And its officers held personally liable. Like those corporate banks that committed 1st degree economic assault?

And what about when a corporation causes the death of another corporation — through a job-killing merger?

The possibilities are endless. In fact, if the Supreme Court chooses to be consistent, humanizing corporations may end up being one of the smartest rulings it’s ever made.

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There is at least one state where corporations are NOT people