Tag: corporate personhood
Fifth Anniversary of Woman’s Marriage to a Corporation
Today marks what would have been the fifth anniversary of Angela Vogel’s marriage to my corporation, Corporate Person. On July 17th, 2012, King County granted their right to marry and then took to Facebook later to tell the couple that...
Hobby Lobby: Latest in Evolution of Corporate Consitutional Rights
The History of Corporate Constitutional Rights In light of this week’s Hobby Lobby ruling that corporations are persons under the law which can hold religious beliefs, I thought it would be good to revisit the origin and evolution of corporate personhood and corporate constitutional...
How Things Change as Constitutional Rights Contract and Expand for People and Corporations
People often ask whether a proposed Seattle law such as Initiative 103 could actually impact the Supreme Court’s interpretation of corporate personhood and speech rights. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time a law from Washington State turned the tide of...
Phonebook Lawsuit Cost Seattle $264,503 in Legal Fees
Update: Seattle Weekly reports that the city has announced a $517,500 settlement with the phonebook companies. The total cost of the settlement and legal fees to the city therefore is $781,503. City says phonebook opt-out service will be taken offline soon....
Why You Should Care About Seattle’s Phonebook Debacle
Update: In response to my public records request, the City of Seattle reports it has paid $264,503 in outside legal fees during the Yellow Pages Lawsuit. Reading through the comments on BoingBoing about Seattle’s proposed $500,000 settlement with phonebook companies highlighted for me how misunderstood...
Good Activism Breaks Law
Update: The Stranger published a shorter version of this on August 15. Last week, The Stranger called Initiative 103 “an unconstitutional waste of time,” but constitutionality isn’t the right benchmark to measure social change efforts. In 1873, after suffragist Susan...
How Phonebook Companies Are Wasting Seattle Taxpayers’ Money
Thud… Thud… Thud! That’s the sound of phonebooks you opted out from landing on your porch in the near future if Seattle loses a lawsuit brought by phonebook publishers. The case is a perfect example of big business using “corporate personhood”...