Corporate rights movement

The corporate rights movement desires extension of the traditional legal definition of the corporation, from a legal entity that has existence and can own assets, into more traditional areas of human rights, such as free speech and voting.

United States

In the United States, the movement is often seen to have become serious after Lewis Powell, then in private law practice, wrote an analysis in 1971, to a friend on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, shortly before his appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States. It is certainly not the only basis for the approach.

The Supreme Court of the United States had long been seen as opposing the extension of such rights, with the key precedents being Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) and (2003).

State law grants corporations special advantages – such as

limited liability, perpetual life, and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of assets . . . These state-created advantages not only allow corporations to play a dominant role in the Nation’s economy, but also permit them to use ‘resources amassed in the economic marketplace’ to obtain ‘an unfair advantage in the political

marketplace'

Recently, however, the free speech rights of corporations were extended to allow them political speech, by Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010).