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

The general authority granted by the Constitution of South Carolina and the Municipal Corporations 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/City/Town and its finances and the maintenance of the health, safety, peace, good government, and welfare of the Township/City/Town.

The Constitution of South Carolina, Art. I, § 1, which provides that all political power is vested in and derived from the people only.

The Constitution of South Carolina, Art. XII, § 1, which provides that the health, welfare, and safety of the lives and property of the people of South Carolina and the conservation of its natural resources are matters of public concern.

The Code of Laws of South Carolina, Tit. 5, Municipal Corporations, § 5-7-30, which empowers all municipalities to enact regulations, resolutions, and ordinances respecting any subject as shall appear to them necessary and proper for the security, general welfare, and convenience of such municipalities, or for preserving health, peace, order, and good government therein.

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/City/Town 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/City/Town and usurps basic human and constitutional rights exercised by citizens of this Township/City/Town;

(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/City/Town;

(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 Carolina 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/City/Town;

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

(11) The ability of citizens of this Township/City/Town to establish rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Township/City/Town 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/City/Town 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 Carolina within the Township/City/Town 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/City/Town 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.