The First Amendment and the Business Corporation

The role of the business corporation in modern society is a controversial one. Some fear and object to corporate power and influence over governments and culture. Others embrace the corporation as a counterweight to the State and as a vehicle to advance important private objectives. A flashpoint in this controversy has been the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which enshrines the fundamental rights of freedom to speech, religion, and association. The extent to which a corporation can avail itself of these rights goes a long way in defining the corporation's role. Those who fear the corporation wish to see these rights restricted, while those who embrace it wish to see these rights recognized.

The First Amendment and the Business Corporation explores the means by which the debate over the First Amendment rights of business corporations can be resolved. By recognizing that corporations possess constitutionally relevant differences, we discover a principled basis by which to afford some corporations the rights and protections of the First Amendment but not others. This is critically important, because a "one-size-fits-all" approach to corporate constitutional rights seriously threatens either democratic government or individual liberty. Recognizing rights where they should not be recognized unnecessarily augments the already considerable power and influence that corporations have in our society. However, denying rights where they are due undermines the liberty of human beings to create, patronize, work for, and invest in companies that share their most cherished values and beliefs.

Ronald J. Colombo is Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law. He teaches courses in corporate, securities, and contract law. Professor Colombo previously served as vice president and counsel in the Complex Global Litigation Group of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. He also practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell, and he also served on the Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Colombo's scholarship has earned him the Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication, and has garnered him invitations to address the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, the Notre Dame School of Law, and many other venues. His op-eds and letters have been published in The Washington Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Financial Times, and The Huffington Post.