Culver City Must Take a Stand Against Corporate Personhood

Sylvia Moore

Should Culver City residents or corporations decide how to run Culver City? Most would say residents, but under the doctrine of corporate personhood, Culver City residents don’t necessarily have the final word. Two years ago this Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizen’s United vs. FEC cemented into law the idea that corporations have the same rights under the Constitution as human beings. It’s an absurd notion, but one that has dire consequences for the quality of life of communities like Culver City.

Belonging in the Supreme Court’s “Hall of Shame” along side such greatest misses as Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson and Bush v. Gore, Citizens United reaffirmed the notion that money equals speech, and granted corporations and unions the right to raise unlimited funds on behalf of political candidates. The decision paved the way for the creation of independent, and often secretive, expenditure groups, who have raised millions of dollars to buy radio and television advertising to influence local, state and federal elections. Citizens United was the endgame in a long history of Supreme Court caselaw that led to the elevation of corporate power over our democracy.

So how could corporate constitutional rights adversely affect Culver City? Under the First Amendment, developers could raise unlimited campaign funds on behalf of a pro-development City Council candidate who pledges to support a construction project opposed by a majority of residents. That candidate’s poorly funded rival wouldn’t have a fair chance. Suspicious that a company is poisoning local groundwater or violating local health ordinances? Under the Fourth Amendment, polluters would be protected from search without a warrant. Want to keep a certain big box retailer or a cell phone tower out of Culver City? Under the Fourteenth Amendment, firms wanting to build unpopular projects could sue the city, claiming discrimination. In short, if Culver City adopts regulations protecting the community’s environment, workers and health, corporations with the same legal rights as people could try to block those regulations they believe cut into their profits.

The Citizens United decision sparked such massive public outrage, that nearly 80% of Americans want it overturned. This shows the issue crosses party lines; a majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents support a constitutional amendment reversing Citzens United. A national movement to amend the Constitution to dismantle corporate constitutional rights is now underway. Several proposed amendments have been introduced by congressional lawmakers. Grassroots organizations such as Common Cause, Move to Amend, People for the American Way, and Public Citizen are rounding up public support in favor of an amendment.

I am a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Move to Amend, a coalition of groups dedicated to passing a constitutional amendment that would restrict constitutional rights to human beings, and expressly state that money is not equal to speech. Such an amendment would give Congress the authority to limit how much corporations can spend on elections, allow communities to enact laws establishing public financing of campaigns, and empower citizens to stop corporate abuses.

In December, our chapter successfully lobbied the city of Los Angeles to become the largest munipality in the country to pass a resolution in support of our proposed language for a constitutional amendment. Los Angeles followed Berkeley, Richmond and Oakland, CA, Missoula, MT, Boulder, CO, Madison and Dane County, WI, and Albany, NY in affirming that constitutional rights are for humans only. This month, Petaluma, CA, New York City, Duluth, MN, and Portland, OR, passed similar resolutions. Culver City should also join the effort by lobbying its City Council for a resolution. If Culver City can get an anti-corporate personhood ballot initiative passed, that would make an even more powerful statement. Move to Amend believes in a bottom up effort to overturn Citizens United, and is encouraging communities to start their own local chapters. If Culver City residents would like to establish a Move to Amend chapter, information on how to get started is available at http://movetoamend.org

Sylvia Moore is the Vice President of the Culver City Democratic Club, the Blog Editor for California One Care, and a Delegate from the 47th Assembly District to the California Democratic Party.