Corporate Personhood and the Rights of Corporate Speech

Abstract

This article argues that, contrary to the claims of some anti-corporate critics, corporate free speech rights have not been a product of corporate personhood under the Fourteenth Amendment. The free speech rights of business corporations are not equal to that of natural individuals but in fact are more limited. Moreover, this article contends that there are at least 4 different, distinct free speech rights held by business corporations and each is subject to its own set of constitutional rules and limits. The Supreme Court, however, often confuses the various rights and they different strands of reasoning among the cases are inconsistent and incoherent.

Keywords: Fourteenth Amendment, business corporations, judicial interpretations of free speech