The Supreme Court decision

[gwillen]

For those on my flist, if any, who support the Court's decision in /Citizens United v. FEC/, I would be interested to know your answers to the following questions:

Is a toaster a person?

Is a corporation a person?

Can you explain the difference?

What would it mean for a toaster to have a right to free speech?

What does it mean, precisely, for a corporation to have a right to free speech? This is not the same as the free speech rights enjoyed by any of the people involved as individuals -- this, as ruled by the court, is a separate right, belonging to the corporation as an entity in and of itself, completely independent of the rights of any of the individuals involved.

Can you explain the difference?

ETA: Justice Rehnquist's dissent in /First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti/
makes for excellent reading on the subject.

Comments

[drquuxum.livejournal.com]

That argument can't fly, because the first seven presidents + W.H. Harrison were born before July 4, 1776.

[(Anonymous)]

If the argument doesn't fly, it's not for that reason. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5, of the Constitution allows for "a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution" to run for president, and that grandfather clause qualified the first twelve presidents.

I'm not sure if the corporation that is Harvard is the same entity that was Harvard around 1787. I doubt it was considered a citizen of Massachusetts at the time, but that may not have any bearing on a modern legal viewpoint is that Harvard truly was a citizen then.

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

Ah, that grandfather clause completes my understanding of why Harvard was suggested, thank you. I didn't remember about that.

I'm not sure how the courts feel about corporations being citizens (versus merely noncitizen people; would that make them aliens? Heh.) Only one way to find out! ;-)

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

But yes, I'm nearly certain Harvard is the same Harvard it was back to 17** and earlier. Wikipedia seems to think so at least.