Update: Corporations are not people in carpool lanes

Jonathon Ramsey — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:58:00 EST

Jonathon Friedman had his day in a San Francisco court, then Jurist Frank Drago had his say, declaring Friedman guilty. The case centered on a sheaf of corporation papers that Friedman used to make a statement about corporate 'personhood.' Driving in a carpool lane in the Bay Area, Friedman was pulled over for not having at least two people in the car. His response was to show the officer his business papers and, citing US Supreme Court decisions that have affirmed that corporations are people, said he indeed did have two people in the car and so was, in fact, carpooling.

The case went before the traffic referee, and the officer who issued the ticket even showed up to defend it. Friedman's attorney, Ford Greene, pointed to the "constitutionally vague" correlation between the California vehicle code that defines a person as "natural persons and corporations" and the carpool lane signs that demands cars in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane be occupied by "two or more persons."

The jurist wasn't interested in all that "novel" malarkey. Drago said, "Common sense says carrying a sheath of papers in the front seat does not relieve traffic congestion," then declared Friedman guilty. Now, we're not constitutional law scholars, but it's been a while since we heard "common sense" used as the sole litmus test for extracting the intention of a law and assigning guilt - and we wonder if that's the same common sense that was used to declare corporations people in the first place.

No matter, Friedman said he expected to lose, and that he'll be appealing the ruling within 30 days.

Update: Corporations are not people in carpool lanes originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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California man using "corporations are people" argument to challenge HOV lane ticket

Zach Bowman — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal

A driver in San Rafael, California is attempting to appeal a traffic citation for driving alone in a High Occupancy Vehicle lane. Jonathan Frieman and his attorney, Ford Greene, argue that since Frieman had corporate incorporation papers in his car when he was stopped by an officer, he was actually carpooling at the time. Technically, the state of California's definition of personhood includes both "natural persons and corporations." But Frieman's out to do more than just skirt a $478 traffic ticket with a little fancy legal footwork.

He's sworn to chase the case all the way to the Supreme Court should the first trial not go his way in an attempt to "expose the impracticality of corporate personhood." If Frieman eventually wins his case, the victory could have serious implications on the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

While the US legal system has weighed the benefits and drawbacks of corporate personhood for years, the issue became more clear in 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled that restricting corporate political spending violated the First Amendment. Granting corporations constitutional rights implies the entities themselves have personhood.

California man using "corporations are people" argument to challenge HOV lane ticket originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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