Corporate
Code
The
Code For Corporate Responsibility (SB 917):
An
Idea Whose Time Has Come
By
Nichole Su
A
Litmus Test For All Political Candidates?
Since when do Rabbi Michael Lerner
and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles agree? How about author Thom
Hartmann and Loyola Law Professor Robert Benson, on the pro and con sides
respectively, of abolishing corporate personhood as a corporate reform
strategy? Throw into this mix Marjorie Kelley, editor of Business Ethics
magazine, and commentator Jim Hightower, as well as the National Alliance for
Democracy,
The Code requires corporate
directors to ensure that profits do not come at the expense of five elements of
the public interest: (i) the environment, (ii) human rights, (iii) public
health and safety, (iv) the welfare of communities and (v) employee dignity.
Corporate attorney Robert Hinkley wrote a Model Uniform Code so that the Code
for Corporate Responsibility can be adopted into the existing corporate codes
of all 50 states. The Code consists primarily of 28 words whose insertion into
existing law changes the purpose of corporations from simply "making
money" to "making money, but not at the expense of the environment,
human rights, the public health or safety, the communities in which the
corporation operates or the dignity of its employees."
The Code is proactive. Unlike most
corporate reform measures, it goes beyond withholding, threatening or punitive
actions that take place belatedly after corporate malfeasance has already
injured the public interest. It provides corporations with a positive direction
to go. At the same time, the Code imposes strict liability on corporations and
their directors if they violate the Code. It provides exemptions for small
business, and a transition period for compliance. The Code presents no
constitutional issues; to become law, it only requires passage by the state
legislature and the signature of the governor. Endorsement of the Code (SB 917)
should become a litmus test for all 2004 election candidates.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
On October 28th, the Onion Tuesday
Night Forum will feature Maria Armoudian, Senator Alarcon's legislative aide,
who will speak on the Code (SB 917). On November 25th, the Onion will feature
call-in speaker and Model Uniform Code for Corporate Responsibility author
Robert Hinkley, who will speak on "The Next Step In Corporate
Evolution."
The new ad hoc California Corporate
Reform Working Group (CalCORE) works with state and national activists to enact
corporate reform legislation, including the Code for Corporate Responsibility
(SB 917). CalCORE seeks additional endorsers and activists to lobby state
legislators at their district offices during the current legislative recess.
For info, please email calcorewg@earthlink.net. See www.c4cr.org and
http://www.citizenworks.org/enron/corp_code.php for more information about the
Code.
-30-