Corporate Constitutional “Rights” Harm Small Business [View all]

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/09



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It was once suggested to me that because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to incorporate, Americans should just incorporate themselves individually—then we would all have the same rights and privileges as corporations. Interesting thought, but the fact is that even though small, incorporated businesses can technically claim Constitutional rights, the reality is that these small businesses are trumped by the treasuries of large multi-national corporations, which currently share the same rights and can afford long litigation.

Time and again, large corporations have gone to court to assert their rights over the rights of small businesses. In nearly every case, the Court has sided with the large corporations, most recently in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant. From The New York Times:

On June 20, the court again restricted class actions, in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant. The restaurant and other small businesses had brought a class-action suit accusing American Express of violating antitrust law in imposing excessive fees on merchants. The individual plaintiffs could have each recovered just $38,000 under the antitrust statute, but proving an antitrust violation would have cost exponentially more. Therefore, denying a class action meant that the suit could not realistically go forward. The result: a company can violate antitrust law yet immunize itself from liability through an arbitration clause.

Small businesses find themselves in the same position when it comes to our First Amendment “right” to participate in the electoral process. We simply do not have the funds to compete against the big boys. A body that should be protecting the interests of small businesses, the US Chamber of Commerce is overrun with the very same corporations who are exercising their personhood “rights” to slap down any business which challenges their policies, and frequently lobbies for laws and supports candidates who will support their corporate agenda.