Should Corporations Have Constitutional Rights?
Law & Justice · Real arguments from SuperDebate members below
The New York Times Company is a corporation. The NAACP is a nonprofit corporation. The Sierra Club, the NRA, the AFL-CIO are all incorporated entities. A constitutional regime that denies corporations First Amendment protection empowers government to silence these organizations. Citizens United was...
Posted by jconnor
Constitutional protections for corporations run deeper than Citizens United. The Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless search of corporate premises protects trade secrets and employee privacy. The Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination protects corporate records. Stripping...
Posted by jconnor
The legal concept of corporate personhood predates Citizens United by 200 years and underpins contract law, property law, and the ability to sue and be sued. Corporations as legal persons can be held liable for wrongdoing, enter binding agreements, and own property — all of which is essential to a...
Posted by jconnor
Citizens United unleashed unlimited corporate political spending: super PACs spent $2.9 billion in the 2022 midterms, with a significant portion from undisclosed corporate sources. The evidence that this spending shapes policy — not just elections — is strong. Corporate donors to both parties have...
Posted by jconnor
The original constitutional text nowhere mentions corporations. The doctrine of corporate constitutional personhood derives from a 19th-century judicial innovation — a headnote added by a court reporter to an 1886 Supreme Court case that did not actually decide the question. Congress has the power,...
Posted by jconnor
Corporate constitutional rights create a systemic asymmetry: corporations can assert constitutional rights that their human members cannot waive. A shareholder who disagrees with a corporation's political spending cannot opt out — their capital funds speech they may oppose. The result is that...
Posted by jconnor
Debate this exact resolution against the AI coach and get scored feedback.
Practice with the coachThe New York Times Company is a corporation. The NAACP is a nonprofit corporation. The Sierra Club, the NRA, the AFL-CIO are all incorporated entities. A constitutional regime that denies corporations First Amendment protection empowers government to silence these organizations. Citizens United was... (Argued by jconnor on SuperDebate.)
Citizens United unleashed unlimited corporate political spending: super PACs spent $2.9 billion in the 2022 midterms, with a significant portion from undisclosed corporate sources. The evidence that this spending shapes policy — not just elections — is strong. Corporate donors to both parties have... (Argued by jconnor on SuperDebate.)
A live debate on this topic is on the SuperDebate schedule. Anyone can watch, and members can put themselves forward to argue a side.
On SuperDebate. Post a written argument on the topic page, rehearse the resolution against the AI debate coach, or take it to a live debate night at a club near you. Joining is free.
