Over the past decade, a number of groups and individuals have argued against many of the legal protections that corporations receive. These critics argue that problems such as those associated with Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom would not have been as severe if corporations did not have legal protection for their political speech, which limits their accountability to the people. What these critics miss, however, is that going back as far as 1889, in Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Co. v. Beckwith, 129 U.S. 26, the Supreme Court has found corporations to be persons. This finding of personhood means that corporations are properly granted the same protections for their political speech as are enjoyed by other individuals.

1. How would you frame the issue and conclusion of this essay?
2. What are the relevant rules of law used to justify the argument in this essay?
3. Does the argument contain significant ambiguity in the reasoning?
Clue: What word(s) or phrase(s) could have multiple meanings that would change the meaning of the reason entirely?
4. Write an essay that someone who holds an opinion opposite to that of the essay author might write.
Clue: What other ethical norms could influence an opinion about this issue?