by Jayne Lyn Stahl

With last week's Supreme Court ruling, corporations have been granted the right to free speech just like private citizens. Indeed, according to Justices Roberts, Scalia, Alioto, and Thomas, corporations are now persons in the eyes of the law.

But, entitlement to constitutional rights, and elevation to the legal status of personhood, also implies accountability. So, by extension, if corporations are entitled to First Amendment protection, then why can't they be arrested?

Why can't banks, and other financial institutions, like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, AIG, that have defrauded consumers, taxpayers, and the federal government out of billions of dollars be mirandized?

Instead of giving them a little slap on the wrist as the President now proposes to do with his bank tax, why not mirandize them -- read them their rights, starting with "You have the right to remain silent... Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law...You have the right to an attorney during interrogation."

The Supreme Court may, inadvertently, have set an unexpected precedent. This administration may now have the right to arrest, and practice unlimited detention on CEOs of corporate entities recently promoted to personhood by the highest court in the land. And, one thing you can count on, should that ever happen, rest assured these banksters will receive better treatment than 99% of U.S. citizens in jails right now.

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