Citizen's United in Song

More social/legal/political commentary from Roy Zimmerman.

"Citizens United puts the 'mock' in democracy."

Thought Provoking Law Quote: Abraham Lincoln

How often do we read or hear people saying that NOW we need to pay attention to business ethics. The implication is that recent events and actions have given rise to inequities, injustice and social detriment. However, a strong argument can be made that ethical challenges exist in the very fabric of a capitalist society and these issues have been worthy of attention from the very beginnings of an industrial society.

As the Civil War was winding down in 1864, President Lincoln began to look ahead to what he perceived as the next great crisis facing the nation.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.  . . .  Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. 

    

           -Abraham Lincoln in a letter to Col. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864

People, Special Corporate People, Are The Luckiest People . . .

My apologies for the tortured reference to the old Barbara Streisand standard from the 1960's.  But, it is the start of final exams week and that makes academics a bit giddy as an antidote to the workload. In any event, this will be the last post until the Spring semester starts.

Two Jon Stewart clips below examine corporate personhood in relation to criminal responsibility. As usual, Stewart questions public policy, law and practice and raises pointed questions through humor.

Click on the images below to see Part 1 and Part 2:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Perhaps the legal standard for "personhood" should be whether or not the "person" can sing.

Barbara Streisand, a person who can sing:


JPMorganChase&Co, a "person" that cannot sing:
  

Human persons singing in protest of the practices of corporate person, JP Morgan (addressing CEO Jamie Dimon):

The Business Enterprise Song

Partnership, Limited Partnership. Corporation or LLC - Which one will you choose?

"A Person's a Person . . ."

In the Dr. Seuss classic, Horton Hears a Who!, the philanthropic pachyderm proclaims that "A person's a person no matter how small." The Supreme Court version might read, "A person's a person even a corporate cabal."

To draw attention to the claimed absurdity of the notion of corporate "personhood," a Marin County California man has, for the last ten years, been driving in the "2 person carpool" lane with a stack of corporate documents in the passenger seat hoping to be ticketed for a violation. He recently got his wish and challenged the ticket in court on the "a person's a person..." theory. No, he was not successful in obtaining a court's finding in his favor.  But then, I think his real object was to get bloggers like me to write about his case and suggest that it would be an amusing yet thought provoking example to use in your law classes. So, here it is.

Jonathan Frieman, JD, corporate avenger:

Tax Evasion Graphic

I cannot vouch for the sources on this graphic but I do think the graphic is an interesting way to raise an issue that is certainly worth discussing.  The link for the graphic was sent to me by Sarah Wenger at MastersDegreeOnline.org

See related post, here.


Created by: www.MastersDegreeOnline.org

Corporations Are Persons Now

Tell us how you really feel ladies.  Don't hold back, now! See also the The Story of Citizens United.

The Story of Citizens United

The video below was shared on the ALSB listserve some time ago.  Unfortunately, I don't remember who shared it so I can't acknowledge the credit that is well deserved . Since this blog has a potential reach beyond the ALSB membership and the video is now available on YouTube, I am embedding it below.

I think that there are a number of ways to use this video in class.  I use it in an ethics lecture, emphasizing the video's description of the history of the corporation and leading into a discussion about different ethical standards and considerations for human persons and corporations (fictional persons).

To aid in discussing the Citizens United v. FEC case, I have also added below a trailer for the movie Hillary and an ad for the prospective DVD release of the movie that prompted Citizens United to seek judicial determination of its rights.