While corporations should have certain Constitutional rights such as the right to form and enforce contracts, in terms of court precedence there has always been a practical and sensible distinction between what rights ought to (or not) be shared between corporate entities and actual human beings.

For instance, corporations do not have the right to vote or serve on juries. They are not actually part of the electorate—on Voting Day, Bill Gates can enter a voting booth but Microsoft cannot. Corporations cannot “plead the fifth.” They have to disclose any self-incriminating documents or finances when under criminal investigation.

Citizens United largely extended corporate rights by interpreting corporations as having an equal stake in our Bill of Rights. Founding Father James Madison penned the Bill of Rights to protect human liberty and emphasize how “government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people.”

The Citizens United ruling only benefits corporations to the detriment of the American people.

In the aftermath of the ruling, this decision has jeopardized our country’s democratic spirit and has become dangerous precedent for extending more corporate rights based on zero consideration of “We the People.” First and foremost, a nation belongs to its human citizens, and the Supreme Court has clearly lost sight of that. We must respond.

Sign the petition to end corporate personhood.