“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations.”
Thomas Jefferson
In Citizens United v. FEC on January 21, 2010, the US Supreme Court held by 5 to 4 that because US corporations are legal persons, they can contribute to political campaigns. The assumption here is that corporations are more than the sum of an aggregate of persons—that is, more than citizens associating. The corporate entity has rights in itself. Ginsberg and Sotomeyer questioned in oral arguments whether free speech applies to spending money, and, moreover, whether corporations should be considered legal persons, much less citizens. After all, they can’t be drafted, or vote.
The full essay is at "Aristocracy of the Moneyed Corporations."
