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“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power” – Benito Mussolini, Italian Dictator 1923-1945

By Glen Reaux

“If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States.” – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of U.S. 1941-1945.  Truer words were never spoken in describing the recent history of rulings handed down by Supreme Courts dominated by Republican Jurists.  When the former vice president’s quote is placed in context with Republican Jurists of the past 60 years, one must deduce that they have all acted as fascists.  And, fascists do what fascists do best.  They support the policies and laws of their party members and dictators.  Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy and member of the Axis Powers believed in exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court is doing today.  He defined fascism as corporatism which is the control of a nation by a large interest group or groups.  And, that is exactly what has been happening in America, post Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

Historically, the precedent-setting case that infested America with this cancer was the 1886 Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company¹.  This Supreme Court case established corporate personhood and has been cited in error.  Subsequent decisions relying on this case should be voided.  The error lays in a headnote written by a court reporter that has wrongly been interpreted as a portion of the ruling.  The headnote claimed to state the sentiment of the Court regarding the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment² as it applies to corporations.  A headnote is not the decision of the court but merely an opinion of the court reporter provided to help people understand the decision.  The Court never made a decision or issued a written opinion on corporate personhood. The court reporter, John Bancroft Davis was a former president of the Newburgh and New York Railway Company.  Before writing the headnote, the reporter wrote to Chief Justice Morrison Waite:

Dear Chief Justice,

I have a memorandum in the California Cases Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific &c As follows. In opening the Court stated that it did not wish to hear argument on the question whether the Fourteenth Amendment applies to such corporations as are parties in these suits. All the Judges were of the opinion that it does. 

Chief Justice Morrison Waite replied:

I think your mem. in the California Railroad Tax cases expresses with sufficient accuracy what was said before the argument began. I leave it with you to determine whether anything need be said about it in the report inasmuch as we avoided meeting the constitutional question in the decision.

The fact that a former railroad president with a conflict of interest was allowed to write the headnote and that, the headnote written by a court reporter has been interpreted as an element of the ruling are both improprieties associated with a monumental case that has shaped our nation.   More importantly are the facts that, the Chief Justice refused to hear arguments on corporate personhood and also, the Court did not rule on the constitutional question of corporate personhood in its decision.

The creation of corporate personhood has given birth to the cancer of corporatism which has been referred to by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace and Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini as fascism.  And, since the mid 20^th century, the Supreme Court has been the principal flag bearer for fascism. The Court’s history of bias in favor of corporations over human beings is evidenced in the following cases:

1. 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission³  – The court found that corporate political campaign finance is a form of free speech protected by the 1^st amendment allowing corporations to spend limitless amounts of money to support political candidates to champion their causes.  It also allowed for foreign interests, including governments to make unreported limitless campaign contributions.
2. 2014 Burwell v Hobby Lobby⁴ – The court ruled that closely held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation its owners religiously object to. This provided Hobby Lobby with the ability to deny providing for birth control as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
3. May 21,2018 Epic Sytems v. Lewis Supreme Court Case⁵ – The Supreme Court ruled that employers can prohibit their workers from banding together to dispute their pay and conditions in the workplace, an important victory for business interests. The justices ruled 5-4, with the court’s Republican members in the majority, businesses can now force employees to individually use arbitration, not the courts, to resolve disputes. This prevents employees from filing lawsuits to redress their grievances.
4. 2011 AT&T Mobility v Concepion⁶ – In a 5-4 vote, the Court’s Republican Justices found that AT&T couldn’t be subject to a class action suit after falsely claiming their wireless plan included a free cell-phone. The result of this ruling was to make it far harder for consumers to file class action lawsuits.
5. March 27, 2013 Comcast Corp v. Behrend⁷ – 5-4 vote, Republican Justices favored Comcast in a class-action lawsuit, citing what it said was a flaw in the class action’s proposed damages model (NBC Universal is owned by Comcast). The effect of this decision makes it harder for plaintiffs to band together to launch class action lawsuits. Such suits make it easier for groups of individuals to bring cases against corporations.

The corporatism cancer aka fascism that has infected the Supreme Court has not stopped there.  A case study titled, Judges Are for Sale — and Special Interests Are Buying⁸ was published October 31, 2011, by Time.  The report details how big business and corporate lobbyists are packing state, local and district courts with judges who put special interests ahead of the public interest.  In a 2018 study published by the Minnesota Law Review titled, How Business Fares in the Supreme Court⁹, authored by professors Lee Epstein, William M. Landes and Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, proof is provided that the Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., is the most business-friendly court since the early 1900s.  Of the 19 decided cases pitting corporations or businesses against individuals or government agencies, the court ruled in favor of business 74 percent of the time or 14 cases.

While it is obvious that the Supreme Court and lower courts are in the pockets of Corporate America and the elite, other biases of the Court have created an Orwellian atmosphere that is rocketing America into a dystopian future. These biases deal with corporate personhood, human rights, voting rights, unions and immigration as exhibited by this list of cases, all decided by 5-4 votes, dominated by Republican Justices:

1. January 21, 2010 – Citizens United v Federal Election Commission¹⁰ – Money is free speech, special interests and corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign finance
2. June 25, 2013 – Shelby County Alabama v Eric Holder Attorney General¹¹ – Gutted the voting rights act banning discriminatory election practices by states and municipalities against African Americans
3. June 6, 2018 – Trump President of the United States v Hawaii ¹² – Upholds Trump’s travel ban against Muslims and is approved with minor modifications
4. June 27, 2018 – Janus v. AFSCME¹³ – the court ruled that government workers who choose not to join unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining, despite the fact that they would benefit from affirmative rulings. The ruling overturned a 40-year precedent established by the court’s 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.

All of the aforementioned cases have laid the groundwork for a form of economic tyranny never before seen in this country.  One case was so partisan and offensive that the oldest Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has openly stated “If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United.  I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.” 

Currently, the elite class aka the top 1% of the country’s population control 38% of the nation’s wealth.  This is an economic injustice that has been compounded by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 aka BILLS-115hr1enr¹⁴ passed by a Republican Congress in the fall of 2017.  Touted as a bill to create jobs, this law is purely fascist in nature due to the fact that, corporations benefit most from the law, while few, if any benefits are received by the people.  In many cases, poor and middle-class people are paying more in taxes than ever before.  This law has also created an ever-expanding government deficit that will surely fall on the backs of the poor and middle-class to pay.  In favor of corporations, long-standing Supreme Court rulings are regularly being overturned by biased Republican Supreme Court Justices, leaving the destruction of human and civil rights in their wake and in some cases human lives.  Supreme Court decisions are minimizing the power of labor unions which in turn have negative impacts on worker’s rights, job conditions and wages.  This over time, as expected will shrink the middle-class by causing undue economic hardships.

Other decisions, such as AT&T Mobility v Concepion empower corporations to steal from hard-working people, allowing corporations to fatten their pockets while leaving consumers without any recourse to acquire justice.  Rulings such as Shelby County Alabama v Eric Holder Attorney General will disenfranchise millions of ethnic minorities when they are denied their rights to vote, by corrupt, racist and evil politicians.  These rulings leave citizens powerless and at the mercy of predatory corporations and ruthless partisan politicians.  Without the courts to enforce the constitution, a fascist, dystopian future much like that in George Orwell’s 1984, may be in the not-too-distant future.

In George Orwell’s 1984, Big Brother is a fictional character and the charismatic dictator of Oceania.  The totalitarian government’s ruling party, Ingsoc wields total power over its poor and huddled masses.  The population is under constant video surveillance by the government and indoctrinated by the media with propaganda instead of being provided a liberal education.  This is fascism in its most quintessential form.

Once, the world came close to such an Orwellian Society.  But, it was saved thanks to the sacrifices made by our fathers and grandfathers.  The Greatest Generation fought the Fascist Axis Powers of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini.  They won WWII under the leadership of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FRD).  FDR had this to say about fascism:

“The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power… Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing.”

These 20^th century words of FRD were prophetic and ring true today.  Our current political climate is infested with the poisonous rhetoric of a bigoted, wannabe Big Brother named Donald J. Trump, the so-called President.  The Republican controlled Senate is complicit and the corporate-owned, biased Supreme Court is corrupt.  This country’s government is an abomination to the rule-of-law.  Like Oceania of 1984, we suffer unwarranted government surveillance and constant bombarded by propaganda from Fox News and other right-wing media.  We are at the mercy of an egomaniacal leader, that illegally uses the military to enforce unlawful and immoral domestic policies.  All of this is for the sake of an inbred Republican controlled government.  Under the guise of democracy and conservatism, its sole purpose is to subjugate the American People.

If we the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than our democratic state itself, America will fall to fascism.  Left unchecked, the consequences of this biased Supreme Court will take us forward in time to 1984.  Unlike WWII, we will not have the Greatest Generation to defeat fascism for us.  That fate will befall our children!

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Linked Sources and Documentation

1. Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company – https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/118/394/
2. Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment – pdf
3. 2010 – Citizens United v Federal Election Commission – pdf
4. 2014 – Burwell v Hobby Lobby – pdf
5. May 21,2018 – Epic Sytems v. Lewis Supreme Court Case – pdf
6. 2011 – AT&T Mobility v Concepion – pdf
7. March 27, 2013 – Comcast Corp v. Behrend – pdf
8. Time- Judges are for sale: http://ideas.time.com/2011/10/31/judges-are-for-sale-and-special-interests-are-buying/
9. How Business Fares in the Supreme Court – pdf
10. January 21, 2010 – Citizens United v Federal Election Commission – pdf
11. June 25, 2013 – Shelby County Alabama v Eric Holder Attorney General – pdf
12. June 6, 2018 – Trump President of the United States v Hawaii – pdf
13. June 27, 2018 – Janus v. AFSCME – pdf
14. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 aka BILLS-115hr1enr – pdf
15. Consequences of A Biased Supreme Court Part 1: http://www.xplicitnews.org/2019/07/11/the-consequences-of-a-biased-supreme-court/