Can't afford housing or healthcare? One 1886 Supreme Court fraud gave corporations constitutional rights over you—discover how billionaire oligarchs stole your future and the constitutional amendment to take it back.
You work harder than your parents did, yet you can’t afford a home. Billionaires are richer than ever. You know the system is rigged—but no one’s told you how it happened or who rigged it.
Here’s what they don’t teach in law school: In 1886, the Supreme Court never ruled that corporations have constitutional rights. That “precedent” came from a single fraudulent sentence inserted by a court reporter working with a corrupt justice. One headnote. One lie. The greatest legal heist in American history.
That fraud did the following and more:
Crushed unions and shipped jobs overseas
Slashed taxes for the wealthy and gave corporations the power to buy elections
Transferred trillions from working families to billionaire oligarchs
That’s why your paycheck doesn’t stretch. That’s why corporations have more rights than you do. That’s why democracy is eroding. For 140 years, they’ve distracted Americans by blaming immigrants, “welfare queens,” and each other—while billionaires rewrote the rules. Now people are pushing back: passing local ordinances, organizing for a constitutional amendment, and reclaiming power for We the People.
The rebellion has begun. Stop blaming your neighbors. Start demanding accountability. Learn how the system was stolen—and how to take it back.
“A gripping and provocative investigation into one of the most consequential legal questions in American history. This book forces readers to revisit assumptions that have shaped our nation for a century.” —Miles Taylor, former Trump-appointed Chief of Staff, Department of Homeland Security, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Warning
“Elegantly, concisely, and propulsively, Hartmann unravels the mystery of how a seemingly trivial but deeply corrupt act in1886 established the myth of corporate personhood—one of the most consequential bait-and-switches in American history. A timely manifesto every American needs to read.” —Mary L. Trump, psychologist, political commentator, and New York Times bestselling author of The Reckoning and Too Much and Never Enough
“Hartmann examines an audacious political crime committed in broad daylight back in 1886 that inflicted long-term ongoing damage to our democracy. A must-read for every vigilant American.” —Michael Harrison, Publisher, TALKERS magazine
“Thom Hartmann puts on his Sherlock Holmes hat to deliver a masterful sleuthing job on the greatest crime story never told. The scene of the crime: the US Supreme Court.” —Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
“Here, Hartmann dissects an arcane and long-forgotten legal controversy and puts together a startling, compelling, and powerful case—lies emanating from which play a key role in today’s march toward authoritarianism.” —Craig Unger, New York Times bestselling author of American Kompromat and House of Trump, House of Putin
“A brilliant and illuminating takedown of the invention of corporate rights in America and how this case law, orchestrated without our consent and in defiance of common sense, has undermined the common good.” —Lisa Graves, senior multi-departmental government advisor and author of Without Precedent
“A brilliant well-researched expose of how the corruption of the US Supreme Court transferred human rights from people to corporations.” —David C. Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Post-Corporate World
“For more than a century, Americans have been told the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people. It never happened. Hartmann reveals how a single fabricated court headnote—not a judicial decision—became the legal foundation for corporate rule.” —Rachel Bitecofer, political scientist, commentator, and author of Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts
Thom Hartmann is a four-time winner of the Project Censored Award, a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books, and America's #1 progressive talk radio show host for more than a decade. His show is carried on SiriusXM and radio stations nationwide and simulcast as television on Free Speech TV.
Can't afford housing or healthcare? One 1886 Supreme Court fraud gave corporations constitutional rights over you—discover how billionaire oligarchs stole your future and the constitutional amendment to take it back.
You work harder than your parents did, yet you can’t afford a home. Billionaires are richer than ever. You know the system is rigged—but no one’s told you how it happened or who rigged it.
Here’s what they don’t teach in law school: In 1886, the Supreme Court never ruled that corporations have constitutional rights. That “precedent” came from a single fraudulent sentence inserted by a court reporter working with a corrupt justice. One headnote. One lie. The greatest legal heist in American history.
That fraud did the following and more:
Crushed unions and shipped jobs overseas
Slashed taxes for the wealthy and gave corporations the power to buy elections
Transferred trillions from working families to billionaire oligarchs
That’s why your paycheck doesn’t stretch. That’s why corporations have more rights than you do. That’s why democracy is eroding. For 140 years, they’ve distracted Americans by blaming immigrants, “welfare queens,” and each other—while billionaires rewrote the rules. Now people are pushing back: passing local ordinances, organizing for a constitutional amendment, and reclaiming power for We the People.
The rebellion has begun. Stop blaming your neighbors. Start demanding accountability. Learn how the system was stolen—and how to take it back.
Praise
“A gripping and provocative investigation into one of the most consequential legal questions in American history. This book forces readers to revisit assumptions that have shaped our nation for a century.” —Miles Taylor, former Trump-appointed Chief of Staff, Department of Homeland Security, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Warning
“Elegantly, concisely, and propulsively, Hartmann unravels the mystery of how a seemingly trivial but deeply corrupt act in1886 established the myth of corporate personhood—one of the most consequential bait-and-switches in American history. A timely manifesto every American needs to read.” —Mary L. Trump, psychologist, political commentator, and New York Times bestselling author of The Reckoning and Too Much and Never Enough
“Hartmann examines an audacious political crime committed in broad daylight back in 1886 that inflicted long-term ongoing damage to our democracy. A must-read for every vigilant American.” —Michael Harrison, Publisher, TALKERS magazine
“Thom Hartmann puts on his Sherlock Holmes hat to deliver a masterful sleuthing job on the greatest crime story never told. The scene of the crime: the US Supreme Court.” —Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
“Here, Hartmann dissects an arcane and long-forgotten legal controversy and puts together a startling, compelling, and powerful case—lies emanating from which play a key role in today’s march toward authoritarianism.” —Craig Unger, New York Times bestselling author of American Kompromat and House of Trump, House of Putin
“A brilliant and illuminating takedown of the invention of corporate rights in America and how this case law, orchestrated without our consent and in defiance of common sense, has undermined the common good.” —Lisa Graves, senior multi-departmental government advisor and author of Without Precedent
“A brilliant well-researched expose of how the corruption of the US Supreme Court transferred human rights from people to corporations.” —David C. Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Post-Corporate World
“For more than a century, Americans have been told the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people. It never happened. Hartmann reveals how a single fabricated court headnote—not a judicial decision—became the legal foundation for corporate rule.” —Rachel Bitecofer, political scientist, commentator, and author of Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts
Author
Thom Hartmann is a four-time winner of the Project Censored Award, a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books, and America's #1 progressive talk radio show host for more than a decade. His show is carried on SiriusXM and radio stations nationwide and simulcast as television on Free Speech TV.
