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The Breakdown: Do Corporations Deserve ‘Personhood’?

The Supreme Court recently ruled in FCC v AT&T that corporations cannot claim a right to personal privacy under the Constitution. Will that decision affect past cases that affirmed corporate personhood, like Citizens United?

Chris Hayes

March 4, 2011

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The Supreme Court recently ruled in FCC v AT&T that corporations cannot claim a right to personal privacy under the Constitution. Will that decision affect past cases that affirmed corporate personhood, like Citizens United?

In their recent FCC v. AT&T decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the legal concept of corporate “personhood” does not mean that corporations can claim anything like a right to “personal” privacy. But if corporations now make up their own special category of “person,” how much will this ruling affect previous corporate personhood cases, such as Citizens United v. FCC?  In this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes talks with Dahlia Lithwick about the Citizens United and AT&T cases and how they are shaping our conception of corporations and their protections under the law.

Resources

Dahlia Lithwick on FCC v. AT&T. Lawrence Lessig on Democracy After Citizens United.

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Chris HayesTwitterChris Hayes is the Editor-at-Large of The Nation and host of “All In with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC.


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