The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC may have opened the floodgates to whether corporations have the same rights as individuals. In regards to free speech, the Supreme Court answered affirmatively in Citizens United, by striking down certain campaign finance laws. The Supreme Court will next decide whether corporations have the same personal privacy rights as individuals.
The Court has agreed to hear FCC v. AT&T, (Docket Number 09-1279) which will determine whether exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) protects the “personal privacy” of corporate entities. The FOIA allows ordinary citizens to access federal government records. Thus, the government is legally bound to disclose records to any citizen or organization that files a proper "FOIA" request. The exemption in question, exempts from mandatory disclosure, records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes when such disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of “personal privacy.”
In 2005, AT&T objected to a FOIA request for the details of its government contract work in New London, Connecticut. The company argued that it qualifies for a legal exemption under 7(c) from FOIA requests.
AT&T has already won at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the plain language of the FOIA allowed certain government documents to be withheld if it could “reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” The FCC argued the common meaning of “personal privacy” means “personal,” as in human person. The Supreme Court granted review of the AT&T case on September 28, 2010, and arguments are scheduled for January 19, 2011.
Just as Citizens United drew strong protest from those who argued that corporations don’t deserve the same rights as individuals, FCC v. AT&T will surely cause similar protest. Groups such as Public Citizen, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press say the exemption for privacy was never intended to protect corporations, which have protection against disclosure of trade secrets and other information under a separate section of the FOIA.
Personally, I think allowing corporations personal privacy rights may further shield any type of transparency that corporations operate under. The legal fiction of "corporate personhood" is beginning to not seem like such a "fiction" after all. An earlier post on the blog had questioned why corporations do not enjoy all the rights of individuals. Seeing that the Supreme Court has already granted corporations free speech rights, I suppose the next logical step would be personal privacy rights? I'm not so sure.
Would the potential benefit outweigh the potential harm? Granting corporations the personal privacy rights that individuals enjoy would potentially result in more corruption while offering little benefit. Not that all CEOs, Directors, and the sort are waiting for the opportunity to lie, cheat, and steal; but why make it easier to do so?
ReplyDeleteLeadership is doing the right thing when no one is watching. Character is who we are when no one is watching. The Boss is more likely to steal the corporation blind when no one is watching.