Resolution to End Corporate Personhood.txt

Title: Resolution to End Corporate Personhood
Accepted: 2012.01.03
Body: New York City General Assembly

The New York City General Assembly,

Convinced that one critical threat to authentic democratic self-governance comes from the fact that corporations have been defined as legal persons,

Declaring that persons are rightfully recognized as human beings whose essential needs include clean air, clean water, and safe and secure food,

Deeply disturbed that the granting of Constitutional protections to corporations has compromised, or resulted in the destruction of our communities, economy, democracy and natural world in many ways,

Recalling that corporations are human-made legal fictions, and that human citizens are the source of all legitimate power in any democracy,

Deeply concerned that corporations need only profit for survival, and that such profit and survival are often in direct conflict with the essential needs and rights of human beings,

Having observed that the great wealth of large corporations lets them misuse the legal system to overpower human beings and communities, thus denying The People’s rights,

Recalling that corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution, that The People never granted constitutional rights to corporations, but that individual judges and courts have misguidedly done so without Our consent,

Particularly disturbed that the rollback of the legal limits to corporate spending in elections creates an unequal playing field enabling corporations to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions,

Having seen that large corporations own most of America’s mass media and use that media as a megaphone for their own agenda, drowning out other voices, With conviction that defining property as people is fundamentally immoral and a threat to real people, all other life forms, and the planet,

Be it resolved that the New York City General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street joins the millions of citizens, grassroots organizations and local governments across the country in calling for an Amendment to the Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights, and that the rights of human beings will never again be granted to fictitious entities or property.

We support a proposed New York City Council Resolution calling for such an amendment and urge the members to vote YES.

We further call on other communities, movements, and jurisdictions to join with us in this action by passing similar Resolutions.

How:

By making this resolution one of our public statements.

Why:

Corporate personhood is incompatible with democracy and individual sovereignty. We have the opportunity to declare our will to restore constitutional protections to human beings.

Occupy Los Angeles came to consensus on a similar resolution on November 27, 2011 (2 days before they were evicted) and another on December 5, 2011 in support of a Los Angeles City Council resolution to end corporate personhood which passed unanimously on Dec 6, 2011.

On January 4, 2012, the New York City Council is set to vote on a similar resolution calling on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution in order to reverse the 2010 Supreme Court ruling of “Citizens United vs. Federal Electoral Commission.”

Making this public statement days before the City Council votes, and before large-scale national actions marking the 2-year anniversary of “Citizens United” on January 20 and 21, positions OWS as a key voice in the dialogue and creates a powerful and resonant context that can rally more people to the movement.

We propose this resolution as one of many strategies for self-empowerment, not as part of a political party or as an endorsement of the current political system, but as one of many parallel efforts at curbing corporate dominion.