Ordinance to Deny Corporate Personhood : New Jersey
AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY/TOWN/TOWNSHIP/VILLAGE/BOROUGH OF __________, __________ COUNTY, NEW JERSEY ELIMINATING CONSTITUTIONAL PRIVILEGES FROM CORPORATIONS DOING BUSINESS WITHIN THE CITY/TOWN/TOWNSHIP/VILLAGE/BOROUGH
Section 1. Name. The name of this Ordinance shall be the "Corporate Privilege Elimination and Democracy Protection Ordinance."
Section 2. Authority. This Ordinance is adopted and enacted pursuant to the authority granted to the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough by all relevant state and federal laws, including, but not limited to, the following:
The general authority granted by the Constitution of New Jersey and the Municipalities and Counties Code to make and adopt all such ordinances, bylaws, rules, and regulations as may be deemed expedient or necessary for the proper management, care, and control of the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough and its finances and the maintenance of the health, safety, peace, good government, and welfare of the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough.
The Constitution of New Jersey, Art. 1, 2, which provides that all political power is inherent in the people, and that government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people.
The New Jersey Statutes, Tit. 40, Municipalities and Counties, 40:41A-28, which provides that municipalities are the broad repository of local police power in terms of the right and power to legislate for the general health, safety, and welfare of their residents.
The New Jersey Statutes, Tit. 40, Municipalities and Counties, 40:42-4, which gives municipalities the fullest and most complete powers possible over the internal affairs of such municipalities for local self-government.
The New Jersey Statutes, Tit. 40, Municipalities and Counties, 40:48-2, which empowers all municipalities to make any ordinances as it may deem necessary and proper for the good government, order and protection of persons and property, and for the preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants.
Section 3. General Purpose. The general purpose of this Ordinance is to recognize that:
(1) A corporation is a legal fiction that is created by the express permission of the people of this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough as citizens of this State;
(2) Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution by Supreme Court justices to include corporations in the term "persons" has long wrought havoc with our democratic process by endowing corporations with constitutional privileges originally intended solely to protect the citizens of the United States;
(3) This judicial bestowal of civil and political rights upon corporations interferes with the administration of laws within this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough and usurps basic human and constitutional rights exercised by citizens of this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough;
(4) The judicial designation of corporations as "persons" grants corporations the power to sue municipal governments for adopting laws that violate the claimed constitutional rights of corporations;
(5) The judicial designation of corporations as "persons" requires that municipal governments recognize the corporation as a legitimate participant in public hearings, zoning hearing board appeals, and other governmental matters before the municipality;
(6) The judicial designation of corporations as "persons" grants corporations unfettered access to local elections and First Amendment rights that enable corporations to control public debate on and discussion about important issues;
(7) By virtue of the wealth possessed by corporations, buttressed by these protections of law, corporations enjoy constitutional privileges to an extent beyond the reach of most citizens;
(8) When the New Jersey legislature knowingly authorizes corporations to do business in this State under the current framework of legal protections, the legislature enables corporations to wield their constitutional privileges to interfere with democratic governance within this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough;
(9) Democracy means government by the people. Only citizens of this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough should be able to participate in the democratic process in the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough and enjoy a republican form of government;
(10) Interference by corporations in the democratic process usurps the rights of citizens to participate in the democratic process in the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough and enjoy a republican form of government;
(11) The ability of citizens of this City/Town/Township/Village/Borough to establish rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of City/Town/Township/Village/Borough residents has been diminished by the exercise of constitutional privileges by corporations.
Section 4. Specific Purpose. The specific purpose of this Ordinance is to eliminate the purported constitutional rights of corporations in order to remedy the harms that corporations cause to the citizens of the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough by exercise of such rights.
Section 5. Statement of Law. Corporations shall not be considered to be "persons" protected by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of New Jersey within the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough of __________.
Section 6. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are severable. If any section, clause, sentence, part, or provision of the Ordinance shall be held illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision of the court shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the remaining sections, clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of this Ordinance. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the City/Town/Township/Village/Borough that this Ordinance would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional section, clause, sentence, part, or provision had not been included herein.
Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be effective immediately upon passage or as soon thereafter as permitted by law.
