Last week’s controversial Supreme Court ruling has some calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Madison attorney Ben Manski says the decision, which is expected to allow corporate and union money to pour into political campaigns, was itself based on a precedent which gives corporations the same rights as individuals.
“This decision enshrines the rights of corporations above the rights of the people to govern ourselves,” says Manski. “The majority essentially decided that cortporations have the same rights as flesh-and-blood human beings.”
The decision is “Pearl Harbor for American democracy,” says Manski. “The final recourse . . . when the court does something so horrendous that a repair must be done, is through the constitutional amendment process.” Which, Manski concedes, is not easily accomplished: the last amendment to be ratified was the 27th, limiting congressional pay raises, in 1992.
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