Dr. Gershon Cohen, Director of Ultimate Civics Alaska program, has launched a new effort to cross the partisan divide and identify lawmakers, candidates for office, and public supporters across Alaska who believe the Alaska Constitution is clear in its acknowledgement that only natural persons (as opposed to artificial persons such as corporations) have inalienable rights.  

The effort is centered on individuals signing the Alaska Constitution Pledge,  a short statement quoting opening Articles of the Alaska Constitution and asking lawmakers to demonstrate their support by backing legislative efforts to clarify State statutes and municipal ordinances where the definition of “persons” has been compromised by the inclusion of the term “artificial persons.”  The Pledge is accompanied by a background document (see Pledge Background Doc.)  

Efforts are underway to gather signatures from Alaskans of all backgrounds and political persuasions who agree on this fundamental principle and recognize that many of the most serious problems we face as a society are directly due to the usurpation of human rights by corporations, aided and abetted by the U.S. Supreme Court for the past 130 years.  

The goal of this effort is to literally reorganize Alaska politics around the issue of distinguishing human rights from corporate privilege, and to provide the “political space” for lawmakers to adopt statutes and ordinances that will leave the critical democratic processes of voting and passing of legislation where it belongs, with We The People, as opposed to Those Who Have The Most Money.  

A municipal ordinance template has also been drafted for abolishing corporate personhood at the community level.