If you've got rights you've got rights, right?

[ThomWV]

This grows from a comment my good friend Joe made during a phone call a couple of days ago. He asked this, if a Corporation has 1st Amendment rights then it also enjoys all of our other rights - right?

Often opponents of the 2nd Amendment point out that it would be absurd to think an individual has the right to their own Artillery piece, Tank, or Bomber and they are right to do so. But who is to say that Exxon should not and can not have their own Aircraft Carrier or Destroyer? Who is to say in these dangerous times that the Corporation is not entitled to arm itself? Shouldn't Exxon be afforded the right to protect its shipping interests for instance?

I know it sounds absurd, but what limit is there on this decision we have just seen?

[Statistical]

1. Good question.

An unlike an individual who likely can only purchase own a few arms (hell maybe hundred arms) a corporation could own/hire thousands, hundreds of thousands of arms and people to use them.

If the larger ruling that corps = people is not struck down, overturned, or undone by Consitutional Amendment we are wtinessing the begining of the end for Democracy.

Within a couple generations there won't even be a token representation in Congress. A council of corporations (w/ votes based on market capitalization) would decide policy.

[Warpy]

2. The second amendment was vague

because traders at the time did need state of the art weaponry--cannons--to protect their ships from the piracy that was rampant all over the world.

Corporations were declared persons by a clerk of court for the purposes of holding property and entering into contracts. I doubt anyone ever thought it would go far enough to extend free speech, and that bribery would some day be considered speech.

The test of this boneheaded decision will come via the truth in advertising laws. We the people are free to lie our asses off as long as it's not in court and pertinent to the case being tried. We'll see if corporations can now lie about their products.

[ThomWV]

3. Didn't FOX win a case indicating that there is no requirement for truth in broadcasting

It seems to me that if a commercial news delivery service can lie on air about their product - the news - then any other corporation can like about its product as well.

[Overseas]

4. And what's to prevent corps from saying investigating their products or

practices involves unlawful search and seizure?

And the arms thing is a good point, too. Corporate arms race. Arms in space to protect their satellites.

So I'm hoping these concerns push a final stomping out of any Corporate Personhood. Natural human individual persons have the rights, not corporate conglomerates.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Isn't Blackwater already excercising the 2nd Amend. Right

I thought they had tanks, and fully automatic weapons at their training facilities