Most of the American public disagrees with the Supreme Court often due to their differences in defining personhood and who deserves the rights reserved for the people. They do not think that corporations are, in fact, people and should not be given the same Constitutional rights as the everyday American.
A Greenberg Quintin Rosner poll found that 62% of voters oppose the Supreme Court’s decision and 46% of voters strongly oppose it. found that 62% of voters oppose the Supreme Court’s decision and 46% of voters strongly oppose it. 16 states and over 500 cities and towns have confirmed their support for a constitutional amendment that would overturn the ruling. Although more liberals typically disagree with granting big businesses citizen rights, the fact that the majority of Americans dispute the Supreme Court’s ruling proves that corporate personhood is a bi-partisan issue that affects all voters.
Many people, like Jon Stewart, argue that corporations are not people because they are not human and they, namely banks, don’t get punished for their actions; they’re above the law. In 2013, Stewart sarcastically quipped his mainly young liberal audience, “If only there were some way to prove that corporations are not people, show their inability to love, to show that they lack awareness of their own mortality, to see what they do when you walk in on them masturbating.” More seriously, Stewart pointed out that corporations, like banks, can often avoid punishment from their actions as long as they cough up enough money. He fumes that nothing happened to those from Wall Street that destroyed out economy. While people serve time in jail, corporations give “cuts” of their profits to those they did wrong. As Stewart puts it, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the nominal fine.”
In some ways, for-profit corporations already had more rights than the individual citizen before they were allowed to use money as a form of free speech. For example, “There are major tax benefits…[and] there are stringent legal protections from liability unavailable to individuals” (Ornstein 1). After getting all these extra individual citizenship benefits in addition to winning major lawsuits like Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, it leaves many people feeling powerless to growing capitalism. Not only are corporations seen as people, they have more rights than the American people, making them legally superior.
If Americans don’t think corporations are people, of course citizens will think that corporations should not be given the rights designed to protect people.
A Greenberg Quintin Rosner poll found that 62% of voters oppose the Supreme Court’s decision and 46% of voters strongly oppose it. found that 62% of voters oppose the Supreme Court’s decision and 46% of voters strongly oppose it. 16 states and over 500 cities and towns have confirmed their support for a constitutional amendment that would overturn the ruling. Although more liberals typically disagree with granting big businesses citizen rights, the fact that the majority of Americans dispute the Supreme Court’s ruling proves that corporate personhood is a bi-partisan issue that affects all voters.
Many people, like Jon Stewart, argue that corporations are not people because they are not human and they, namely banks, don’t get punished for their actions; they’re above the law. In 2013, Stewart sarcastically quipped his mainly young liberal audience, “If only there were some way to prove that corporations are not people, show their inability to love, to show that they lack awareness of their own mortality, to see what they do when you walk in on them masturbating.” More seriously, Stewart pointed out that corporations, like banks, can often avoid punishment from their actions as long as they cough up enough money. He fumes that nothing happened to those from Wall Street that destroyed out economy. While people serve time in jail, corporations give “cuts” of their profits to those they did wrong. As Stewart puts it, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the nominal fine.”
In some ways, for-profit corporations already had more rights than the individual citizen before they were allowed to use money as a form of free speech. For example, “There are major tax benefits…[and] there are stringent legal protections from liability unavailable to individuals” (Ornstein 1). After getting all these extra individual citizenship benefits in addition to winning major lawsuits like Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, it leaves many people feeling powerless to growing capitalism. Not only are corporations seen as people, they have more rights than the American people, making them legally superior.
If Americans don’t think corporations are people, of course citizens will think that corporations should not be given the rights designed to protect people.