Vermont Calls for an Amendment to Abolish “Corporate Personhood”
Tired of the big money in politics? Tired of corporations running the country? If so, you’re not alone – and, according to the “Move to Amend Coalition,” a grassroots national organization spearheading resolution efforts across the country, people of all political persuasions feel exactly like you do. And if it’s true of people generally, it’s true of Vermonters in spades, who just made their state the first to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
According to the constitution, property cannot be seized from a person without due process of law. If a constitutional amendment states that corporations are not persons, does that mean that the government can take property from a corporation arbitrarily without due process of law?
To be sure, the long established tradition of treating corporations as persons does sometimes create undo problems and remedial action should be taken. But, we must be very careful not to create seriously harmful unintended consequences.
I agree, the US was a nation founded on the concept of freedom and civil liberty. Since the Constitution was first ratified, people have been trying to remove the safeguards.
Disastrous consequences always flow from restricting freedom. The eighteenth amendment, or National Prohibition Act,(Volstead Act), led to the entrenchment of organised crime, misery and social disorder, and the great depression!
Worse, the ‘Noble Experiment’ failed to accomplish it’s primary purpose, alcohol abuse increase as the quality deteriorated.