Corporations don’t eat. They don’t sleep. They have no capacity for love or remorse. Their sole purpose is to make more money than they did last year with no regard for the harm they do to people or the environment.
So why is it that these nonliving entities are given the same legal rights as human beings? What can be done to take these rights away? I would appreciate a response from the lawyers out there.
— Bryan Hewett
Asheville
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I’m not a lawyer, but can tell you that the idea of a corporation as a “natural person” came from a 1886 Supreme Court ruling (Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad). Once this legal definition was advanced, corporations were then given to enjoy the Bill of Rights protections. For a more detailed history, try this website:
http://www.ratical.org/corporations/