http://www.corporatepolicy.org/issues/constit.htm
The U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments do not explicitly mention corporations. Nevertheless, under U.S. law corporations have obtained substantial rights through key court decisions that have established particular legal doctrines and provided corporations some of the same rights as human beings.
Although we believe there are legitimate reasons and instances where corporations and other institutions should be protected from government intrusion, it is also the case that corporations have used their claims to constitutional rights to expand their power, restrict the rights of individual people (esp. employees), trample the public interest (e.g. overturn regulations protective of public health) and undermine democratic decision-making processes, especially at the local level.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11314
CorpWatch: Non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency. We work to foster global justice, independent media activism and democratic control over corporations.
We seek to expose multinational corporations that profit from war, fraud, environmental, human rights and other abuses, and to provide critical information to foster a more informed public and an effective democracy.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/business-and-human-rights
Profit at What Price?
Privatization and economic globalization have given companies unprecedented access to new territories, and expanded their reach across national borders.
But all companies, no matter where they are, have a direct responsibility to respect human rights in their own operations.
Amnesty International believes that the business community also has a wider responsibility - moral and legal - to use its influence to promote respect for human rights.
http://ccrjustice.org/corporate-human-rights-abuse
CCR pioneered the prosecution in U.S. courts of human rights abuses committed abroad—and some of the worst perpetrators have been corporations. From the murder of activists, to the degradation of the environment in countries ranging from Nigeria and Vietnam to the Occupied Territories in Palestine and South Africa, corporations must be held accountable when torture and killings are committed to further profits. CCR also fights to hold domestic companies accountable for injustices committed against those who can least afford them, from the families of prison inmates to sub-minimum wage workers.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2007/04/30/us-wal-mart-denies-workers-basic-rights
Wal-Mart’s relentless exploitation of weak US labor laws thwarts union formation and violates the rights of its US workers, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
In the 210-page report, “Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association,” Human Rights Watch found that while many American companies use weak US laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus. Many of its anti-union tactics are lawful in the United States, though they combine to undermine workers’ rights. Others run afoul of soft US laws.
