Get ‘em, Sotomayor!
Sotomayor Issues Challenge to a Century of Corporate Law
WASHINGTON – In her maiden Supreme Court appearance last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor made a provocative comment that probed the foundations of corporate law.
During arguments in a campaign-finance case, the court’s majority conservatives seemed persuaded that corporations have broad First Amendment rights and that recent precedents upholding limits on corporate political spending should be overruled.
But Justice Sotomayor suggested the majority might have it all wrong – and that instead the court should reconsider the 19th century rulings that first afforded corporations the same rights flesh-and-blood people have.
Judges “created corporations as persons, gave birth to corporations as persons,” she said. “There could be an argument made that that was the court’s error to start with…[imbuing] a creature of state law with human characteristics.”</em>
This case is huge, with far-reaching implications. And although its too soon to tell, looks like the newest justice is starting off on the right foot. Corporations aren’t people, they have no right to free speech, it’s insane. We’ll wait and see…
