Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It
Authors: Jeffrey D. Clements,Bill Moyers
More Praise for
Corporations Are Not People
“A clarion call to action in defense of democracy,
Corporations Are Not People
is arguably the most important book on corporations ever written. Essential reading for every citizen and especially for every judge and politician.”
—David Korten, author of
When Corporations Rule the World
and
Agenda for a New Economy
“Question for the Supreme Court: If a corporation is a person, where’s its navel? In their infamous edict in
Citizens United,
five Supremes obviously went bull-goose bonkers, perverting the Constitution, America’s democratic ideals, and nature itself. But as Jeff Clements makes clear, we the people can overrule them.
Corporations Are Not People
is more than a book—it’s a democracy manual. Let’s put it to work.”
—Jim Hightower, bestselling author, national radio commentator, and editor of the
Hightower Lowdown
“Clements makes a powerful case against the doctrine that corporations enjoy the same free speech protections as individual Americans and lays out in chilling detail the dangerous implications of this doctrine for our democracy. Fortunately, Clements doesn’t leave his readers feeling powerless and instead charts a course to rein in excessive corporate power and reclaim American democracy for we the people.”
—Caroline Fredrickson, Executive Director, American Constitution Society
“Ben Cohen is a person. Jerry Greenfield is a person. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Inc.? Not a person. Why can’t the Supreme Court keep this straight? Jeff Clements tells the story of how some of the biggest corporations in the world took over our Constitution, our democracy, and our economy that used to work for everyone. Best of all, he shows how we can get them back.”
—Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream, and cofounders, Business for Democracy
“As a conservative, I support property rights, rule of law, freer markets, maximization of political liberty, and the restraints on man by a virtuous culture but have to question the notion that corporations, which are artificial entities created by the State, deserve the same
Constitutional protections as we the people. Corporations, whether unions or for-profit entities, are not we the people. I say three cheers for the people and only two cheers for corporations.”
—Michael D. Ostrolenk, cofounder and National Director, Liberty Coalition
“Corporations Are Not People
will inform you, outrage you, and, ultimately, inspire you—to stand up to the multinationals that hoard their profits and externalize their problems, to support an amendment that will enshrine in the Constitution the commonsense dictate of the book’s title, and to return corporations to their proper position as tools of public policy rather than masters of it.”
—Barry Eisler, author of bestselling thrillers including
The Last Assassin
and
Inside Out
and winner of a Barry Award and Gumshoe Award for “Best Thriller of the Year”
“There is no better primer to describe how we arrived where we are today and our opportunity to change the direction of our nation.”
—Peggy A. Lautenschlager, former Attorney General, Wisconsin, and former US Attorney, Western District, Wisconsin
“If you are ready to fight back against corporate rule, this book gives you valuable tools to do so.”
—David Cobb, 2004 Green Party Presidential Nominee and cofounder, Move to Amend
“Jeff Clements is the Tom Paine of our time.
Corporations Are Not People
sounds the alarm for all of us to reclaim the promise of American self-government. Clements presents a strategy and restores our commitment to that basic and powerful idea: that we the people shall govern.”
—John Bonifaz, founder, National Voting Rights Institute; cofounder, Free Speech for People; and author of
Warrior-King: The Case for Impeaching George W. Bush
“Jeff Clements has a rare mastery of
Citizens United
and its profound implications for all of us, and when the moment arose to tell the nation The corporations are coming! The corporations are coming!’ Clements joined the few midnight riders who set out to sound the alarm.”
CORPORATIONS—Ben Manski, Executive Director, Liberty Tree, and cofounder, Move to Amend
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Corporations Are Not People
Copyright © 2012 by Jeffrey D. Clements
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-60994-105-5
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60994-106-2
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60994-107-9
2012-1
Interior design and project management: Dovetail Publishing Services
Cover design: Mark van Bronkhorst, MvB Design
For Bob Clements
CONTENTS
Frequently Asked Questions About the People’s Rights Amendment
PREFACE
Of course corporations are not people. Do we really need a book about that obvious truth? Unfortunately, we do.
After the United States Supreme Court’s decision in
Citizens United
v.
Federal Election Commission
in 2010, the identity of corporations and their place in our government of the people is not so obvious anymore, at least not to the Supreme Court and to the armies of corporate lawyers pushing for more corporate constitutional rights. And the fact that corporations are not people does not seem to be obvious to too many cowed and trembling lawmakers at all levels of government. There are exceptions, to be sure, but in the face of wildly unbalanced corporate money and influence, too few of our elected officials stand with conviction and firmness to state the obvious about corporations in defense of the public interest.