San Francisco Chronicle

Mosi Reeves

March 1, 2012

The title of Jeffrey Clements’ first book says it all: In “Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It,” he dives into the controversy over the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission and its aftereffects. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled broadly that corporations, as “associations of citizens,” enjoy the same rights as individuals to engage in political speech.

Clements is a former Massachusetts assistant attorney general who says he disagrees with the decision, particularly the majority opinion equating legally bound corporations with loosely formed associations of citizens.

“It’s very clear that what the Supreme Court has created is rights for corporations. And that’s very different from right to association, which (all individuals) do have,” Clements says. “Citizens United is only a benefit for big multinational corporations.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/29/NS8F1NB7BE.DTL#ixzz1nt7zXcbV