In a 23-11 vote on Monday, the California State Senate passed a resolution calling upon Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution and eliminate the notion that corporate money equals First-Amendment-protected speech.
The resolution, which explicitly calls upon Congress to convene a constitutional convention pursuant to Article V of the Constitution, makes California the second state, along with Vermont, to seek a legislative reversal of 'corporate personhood' enshrined in the Citizens United decision.
The California resolution argues for corporate rights to be narrowly defined, noting that companies cannot vote in elections, and that money should not be treated as a proxy for that right to vote:
WHEREAS, Corporations are legal entities that governments create and the rights that they enjoy under the United States Constitution should be more narrowly defined than the rights afforded to natural persons; and
WHEREAS, Corporations do not vote in elections and should not be categorized as persons for purposes related to elections for public office and ballot measures; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 130 S.Ct. 876, held that the government may not, under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker’s corporate identity; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention upon application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California, speaking on behalf of the people of the State of California, hereby applies to the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution for the sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would limit corporate personhood for purposes of campaign finance and political speech and would further declare that money does not constitute speech and may be democratically legislatively limited;
Of course, with the infusion of astronomical amounts of corporate money in politics via Super PACs, corporations have been able (more than at any point in U.S. history) to circumvent the democratic will of the people. Yes, political campaign donations have always sullied our politics and corrupted our elected officials.
However, the advent of 'corporate personhood' enabled by Citizens United has concretized the fact that the U.S. practically functions more as an oligarchy than a democracy.
For Congress to convene a constitutional convention, two-thirds of U.S. states must call upon Congress to do so. Illinois is currently contemplating such a resolution, which would raise the number of states to three calling upon Congress to end corporate personhood, with thirty more needed.
Is it likely that we will reach 33? No. However, each state which officially adds its voice to this debate moves us closer toward legislative action ending corporate personhood.
And California's voice is a loud, representative one.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.
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