Ordinance to Deny Corporate Personhood : South Dakota

AN ORDINANCE BY THE TOWNSHIP OF __________, __________ COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA ELIMINATING CONSTITUTIONAL PRIVILEGES FROM CORPORATIONS DOING BUSINESS WITHIN THE TOWNSHIP

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 Township by all relevant state and federal laws, including, but not limited to, the following:

The general authority granted by the Constitution of South Dakota and the Townships 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 Township and its finances and the maintenance of the health, safety, peace, good government, and welfare of the Township.

The Constitution of South Dakota, Art. VI, 26, which provides that all political power is inherent in the people, and that all free government is founded on their authority, and is instituted for their equal protection and benefit.

The Constitution of South Dakota, Art. IX, 2, which provides that a chartered governmental unit may exercise any legislative power or perform any function not denied by its charter, the Constitution, or the general laws of the state, and that powers and functions of home rule units shall be construed liberally.

The Constitution of South Dakota, Art. XVII, 4, which provides that the police power of the state shall never be abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well-being of the state.

The South Dakota Codified Laws, Tit. 8, Townships, 8-2-1, which empowers townships to pass bylaws and ordinances for the government of such township and for the protection of the lives and property of 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 Township 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 Township and usurps basic human and constitutional rights exercised by citizens of this Township;

(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 Township;

(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 South Dakota 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 Township;

(9) Democracy means government by the people. Only citizens of this Township should be able to participate in the democratic process in the Township 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 Township and enjoy a republican form of government;

(11) The ability of citizens of this Township to establish rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Township 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 Township 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 South Dakota within the Township 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 Township 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.