by Jacqueline Medina, UIC senior
How have corporations managed to become people? Part of the reason corporations have acquired legal rights as people is due to various Supreme Court case decisions. Between 2000 through 2017, there have been two important cases involving corporations and their rights as persons. The two cases rely on prior decisions of Supreme Court cases that have been used to open the gate further for corporations to be, legally, people and citizens of the United States.
The first Supreme Court case was Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission of 2010 in which Citizens United pursued a sanction against the Federal Election Commission’s application of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to their production film of Hillary: The Movie. Citizens United believed the Federal Election Commission because Section 203 of the BCRA “…prevents corporations or labor unions from funding such communication from their general treasuries” (Citizens United, 2018). Since Hillary: The Movie was an opinionated film towards the beneficiary characteristics of (at the time) Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and a possible presidency, the Federal Election Commission was argued to be violating Section 203 and Section 201.
However, all arguments were denied by the United States District Court because “…political speech of corporations or other associations should be treated differently under the First Amendment simply because such associations are not natural persons” (Henning, 2017). However, in a separate case regarding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, corporations were settled to be “persons.” In the same manner in which corporations were not considered persons in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission but were considered persons with the Religious Freedom Act, corporations are also protected by the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. Corporations are found to be “persons” by the court system of the United States when there could be the least negative impacts to its institution financially and legally.
In a separate case, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores of 2014, corporations (for-profit institutions) were given First Amendment rights as well as privilege with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). The Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is owned by the Green family and is organized around the Christian faith and accordingly to Biblical beliefs. The Green family then sued Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) because of their opposition that employers must provide FDA approved contraceptive methods to its employees. After denials and reversals, the Court of Appeals held the decision of corporations as “persons” in which Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. had the rights of the RFRA under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment (Burwell, 2018).
If corporations are fighting the United States Supreme Court to be considered “persons” in some occasions, corporations should be either considered persons in all occasions or not considered persons legally and not only when convenient to its monetary profit. Furthermore, because of the past established rights of corporations with the established rights of the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, etc., recent court cases have become easier for corporations to gain personhood rights because of the supportive rights and already positioned constitutional amendments of certain citizen rights towards an institution that’s primary purpose is to gain in profit.
Anon. n.d. “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.” Oyez. Retrieved May 11, 2018 (https://www.oyez.org/cases/2008/08-205).
Anon. n.d. “Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores.” Oyez. Retrieved May 11, 2018 (https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/13-354)
Henning, Peter J. 2017. “Treating Corporations as People.” The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/business/dealbook/treating-corporations-as-people.html).
Center on Organizational Dynamics 