Constitution Needs A New Amendment

The United States Supreme Court makes some mistakes every now and then. The Dred Scott decision was a bad mistake, which history later corrected. The court decisions, especially the 5-4 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, that give corporations the same right as people in the United States was another mistake.

And it's a mistake that could turn our representative democracy into a fascist oligarchy -- a government in which only the corporations and the rich have any input into decisions. The best way to correct the court's mistake, and the way to keep the court from doing it again, is to pass a new constitutional amendment -- an amendment that makes it clear that corporations and other business and political organizations are not people and don't have the same rights as people.

Texas progressive David Van Os is encouraging all Democrats to pass a resolution to this effect in their county and senate district conventions, and then again at the state convention. We cannot count on national politicians to do this on their own. We must give them a push, and passing resolutions in our conventions can be the start of that needed push. To get things started, Van Os has written out the proposed resolution. If you are attending a convention this weekend, copy it down and introduce it at the convention for a vote.

Here is his resolution:

RESOLUTION - CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERRULE CORPORATE PERSONHOOD

Whereas, the founders of our nation proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence authored by Thomas Jefferson that government is founded only on the consent of the governed; and

Whereas, we proudly embrace this founding premise of democracy; and

Whereas, we cherish the belief articulated by Abraham Lincoln that our forebears intended to establish a government of, by, and for the people that shall not perish from the earth; and

Whereas, our forefathers and foremothers made monumental sacrifices to ensure they preserved our nation's democracy so they could hand it down to us for our benefit and enjoyment; and

Whereas, the United States Supreme Court recently held in the Citizens United v. Federal Communications Commissiondecision that corporations are "persons" under the Constitution, thus possessing the same Constitutional rights and protections as natural, living human beings; and

Whereas, the Supreme Court ignored the plain fact that corporations are artificial entities which do not have the natural capacity to give or withhold the consent of the governed or to participate in government of, by, and for the people; and

Whereas, the Supreme Court majority of five judges that made this ruling subverted the very concept of democracy for which so many of our forefathers and foremothers have sacrificed so much; and

Whereas, the Supreme Court majority of five judges that made this ruling subverted the democratic political process by removing all effective limitations on the pernicious flow of massive corporate money into election campaigns; and

Whereas, the intellectual dishonesty of the Supreme Court ruling is demonstrated by the fact that the Constitution on its face does not give corporations the rights of persons yet the five judges who made the ruling claimed to be strict constructionists in their confirmation hearings; and

Whereas, since the Supreme Court majority purported to base its ruling on Constitutional interpretation it will require amendment of the Constitution to overrule the Court's decision; and

Whereas, amendment of the Constitution is a proper and time-honored method for the people to overrule Supreme Court decisions of erroneous Constitutional interpretation; and

Whereas, the Constitutional amendment process contains checks and balances to ensure that the Constitution is not amended lightly and should only be done for the most pressing of reasons; and

Whereas, equating corporations to natural persons is so fundamentally damaging to our democracy that it is now imperative to amend the Constitution to clarify that corporations are not Constitutional persons; and

Whereas, only by such Constitutional amendment will the people regain the right to regulate and limit corporate behavior by such legislative action as the people may desire through their legislative representatives, including but not limited to time-honored prohibitions on corporate spending in political campaigns; now

Therefore be it resolved, that the following amendment to the United States Constitution should be adopted by the U.S. Congress and submitted to the states for ratification without delay: Amendment 28 - Natural Persons The words "person" and "persons" wherever used in the United States Constitution and the Amendments thereto shall be construed to mean only natural persons.