The recent Supreme Court decision on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis left the nation debating whether the First Amendment grants business owners the constitutional right to turn away certain protected classes of individuals. It also raised other issues about corporate identity and personhood and made us ask: how did we get to the point where courts are treating corporate actors as indistinguishable from natural persons with individual rights? Here to help us unpack these issues is Adam Winkler, the Connell Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and a specialist in American constitutional law, the Supreme Court, and gun policy. He has published numerous books and articles, but for today’s discussion, we refer to his award-winning book, We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights. Tuning in, you'll learn about the corporate rights movement and the landmark cases that laid the foundation for corporate personhood in America. We also discuss which rights corporations should (and should not) have, the influence corporations have on the electoral process, and how AI might shape our understanding of corporate personhood going forward, plus so much more!

Key Points From This Episode:

•   Insight into the “corporate rights movement” and the purpose of corporate personhood.

•   When companies became people: the history of corporate personhood in America.

•   The 200-year quiet revolution led by business corporations to gain constitutional rights.

•   Why the Supreme Court has historically sided with businesses.

•   The foundations laid for corporate law by Bank of the United States v. Deveaux.

•   Citizens United: a landmark decision regarding the political speech rights of corporations.

•   Who really speaks when a corporation speaks.

•   The influence corporations exert on the electoral process, even without the right to vote.

•   Hobby Lobby and freedom of religion.

•   Why granting corporations rights based on shareholder’s rights and interests is “slippery.”

•   The 303 Creative decision and its intersection between the First Amendment and anti-discrimination laws.

•   The problem with distinguishing between closely held corporations and public corporations.

•   Property versus liberty: which rights corporations should and should not have.

•   How AI might change the way we think about corporate personhood.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adam Winkler

Adam Winkler on LinkedIn

Adam Winkler on X

We the Corporations

Fordham University School of Law Corporate Law Center