Court opened the floodgate of corporate spending on elections, a movement is growing to amend the constitution overturn the doctrine of corporate personhood. But some lawyers say the effort could backfire and make it hard to hold corporations accountable. We will host a debate. Then to the hidden battles to collect your data and control your world. Russia, china, iran tunisia are trying to push an internet sovereignty, nationalism movement, that gives them the ability and permission to subvert it on their citizens, whether it is surveillance or propaganda, censorship. These are all on the rise. The United States is, quite sensibly, pushing down against that that we need a free and open internet. It turns out at the same time theyre doing these exact same things. Amy leading security and Privacy ResearchBruce Schneier on his new book, data and goliath. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Iraqi Officials Say they are close to victory in an an iranianbacked offensive to reclaim the city of tikrit from the selfproclaimed islamic state. Iraqi forces and iranianbacked militias have reclaimed swaths of the city without the aid of u. S. Airstrikes. The gains come as abc news reports Iraqi Military units trained and armed by the United States are under investigation by the Iraqi Government for war crimes. Videos and photos on social media appear to show militia members and soldiers from elite units massacring and torturing civilians, and displaying severed heads. A Syrian OppositionGroup Reports airstrikes by the u. S. Led coalition against isil have killed over 100 civilians. The Syrian Network for human rights said dozens of civilians have been killed in strikes targeting oil refineries, while 51 were killed in late december when u. S. Aircraft struck a building housing an isil prison in al bab. A u. S. Drone strike has reportedly killed a Senior Member of the militant group our shabaab our shabaab along with two other people. Unnamed u. S. And kenyan officials told the Associated Press the strike killed adan garar, accused of helping to plan the 2013 mass shooting at the Westgate Mall in nairobi. Sierra leone has seen an uptick in ebola cases in certain areas, as the total number of deaths from the outbreak has topped 10,000. Liberia released its last ebola patient from treatment last week, but guinea and sierra leone are still struggling to contain the virus. World Health Organization assistant directorgeneral Bruce Aylward warned waning global attention poses a major risk. In terms of the risks, the single biggest one probably at this point is the risk that the world stopped looking at this disease, stops looking at these countries. We talk often about how the steep dropoff in cases is billy thing that has dropped more quickly and steeply has been the new contributions in financing to the program. Amy meanwhile, a worker from the u. S. Aid Group Partners in health, and a British Military aid worker have both contracted ebola in sierra leone. The british aid worker has arrived in london for treatment, while the u. S. Worker is due to arrive in bethesda, maryland today. World powers have reportedly opened talks on a possible u. N. Security Council Resolution to lift sanctions on iran if a nuclear deal is reached. According to reuters, the talks between the United States, iran, britain, china, france, russia and germany are taking place ahead of the resumption of Nuclear Talks next week. A u. N. Resolution could render the nuclear deal with iran legally binding, making it harder for republicans in congress to undo it. Meanwhile, irans Supreme LeaderAyatollah Khamenei has criticized this weeks open letter from republican senators threatening to nix any nuclear deal. The team a signed by president khamenei to the talks, those turn to secure the countrys interest, of course. I am concerned because the other side, the u. S. , is into deception, trickery, and backstabbing. Amy after years, swedish prosecutors have issued a request to question wikileaks founder Julian Assange in london following pressure from swedish courts and repeated requests by assanges lawyers. Gillian Julian Assange, who has never been charged over the allegations, has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in london since 2012, fearing his arrest warrant in sweden, could lead to his extradition to the United States. Assanges lawyers have been asking swedish prosecutors to question him in london for over four years. Protesters in ferguson missouri, held a candlelight vigil following the shooting of two Police Officers outside by an unknown gunman. Both officers have been released from the hospital. The shots were fired during a protest outside the Ferguson Police department, but police say the shooter was about 125 yards away. Attorney general eric holder condemned the shooting, which came on the heels of a Justice Department probe on rampant racial bias by Ferguson Police. What happened last night was a pure ambush. This was not someone trying to bring healing to ferguson. This was a damn punck there was trying to so discord in an area that its trying to get together that is trying to bring together a community that has been fractured for too long. This really disgusting and cowardly attack might have been intended to unravel any sense of progress that exists. I hope, that in fact, does not happen. Amy an email obtained by the intercept news site reveals members of an Fbi Joint Terrorism Task force tracked details of a black lives matter protest at the mall of america in minnesota last december. An email from st. Paul Police Officer david langfellow, a member of the fbi task force cites a confidential human source who confirmed the date and time of the protest. The email was forwarded to all an fbi spokesperson denied the agency has any interest in the black lives matter campaign. New details have emerged about two secret Service Agents accused of drunk driving into a White House Security barricade. The Washington Post reports the agents allegedly drove through an active investigation, directly next to a suspicious package, which had been placed on the ground by a woman who claimed it was a bomb. While officers at the scene wanted to arrest the agents, a superior ordered their release without sobriety tests. The secret services new director joseph clancy, who was appointed last month after a scandal over a White House Security breach, said he found out about the incident five days later. The agents have been identified as marc connolly, the secondincommand on obamas security detail, and george ogilvie, a top supervisor in the Washington Field office who issued a Statement Last year touting the agencys zero tolerance policy for drinking. Mcclatchy newspapers reports an accused torturer who served as a member of chilean dictator Augusto Pinochets notorious secret police force worked for the pentagons Top University for over a decade. Jaime Garcia Covarrubias returned to chile last year. He remains there under a chilean judges order amid a probe into his alleged masterminding of the murders of seven people in the weeks after the u. S. Backed coup that brought pinochet to power in 1973. An alleged victim of garcia said hes to wield a horsewhip while presiding over sexual torture and electric shocks. Despite repeated complaints by colleagues, officials with the state department and pentagon let him teach at the william j. Perry center for hemispheric defense studies for 13 years while immigration officials let him remain in the u. S. The chile story has come to light as a palestinian activist accused of immigration fraud has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. A u. S. Judge in detroit called rasmea odeh a terrorist as he sentenced her for concealing her conviction on bombing charges by an Israeli Military court more than 40 years ago. Odeh says her confession to the bombings, which killed two people, was obtained through torture and Sexual Assault in israeli custody. Her supporters say she was targeted by u. S. Authorities over her support for palestinian liberation. Odeh served as associate director of the Arab American Action Network in chicago and has lived in the u. S. For 20 years. Shell be deported after her prison term. In secaucus, new jersey, more than two dozen people were arrested at the offices of the childrens place as they called for compensation for victims of the rana plaza factory collapse. The childrens place is among the retailers whose products were found in the factorys ruins, and protesters say they have contributed just 450,000 of the 30 million owed to workers families. Next month marks the two Year Anniversary of the disaster, which killed 1,100 people. Bangladeshi garment activist Kalpona Akter stood with 18yearold mahinur begum, a survivor of the collapse, and called on the childrens place to pay. Please, care about these workers. Dont let them die in these factories or wait for compensation for years and years. Please pay. When you say childrens place care about the children [indiscernible] please step forward and pay. Amy the protest came as a Cement Factory run by a subsidiary of the Bangladesh Army collapsed south of the capital dhaka, killing at least seven people and injuring 30. Brown university is facing protests over its handling of Sexual Assault after two students said their drink was laced with date rape drugs at a fraternity party. Brown suspended the fraternity phi kappa psi, but dropped charges against the student accused of administering the drugs, whose father is a brown trustee and donor. The accused student hired his own expert, who questioned toxicology tests ordered by the school, leading to revelations brown had selected labs with a history of inaccuracy. Meanwhile, a second student accused of sexually assaulting one of the women was found not responsible after brown said the womans foggy memory, a symptom of drugging, made it difficult to disprove her alleged assailants account. On wednesday, 400 students marched silently through campus with dollar bills over their mouths, bearing a red ix, a reference to title ix. Brown is one of 94 colleges under federal investigation for its handling of Sexual Violence in possible violation of title ix. The civil rights leader reverend Willie Barrow, who marched with dr. Martin luther king jr. In selma 50 years ago, has died at home in chicago, illinois at the age of 90. Nicknamed little warrior, she was a fixture of the Civil Rights Movement in chicago where she helped found operation breadbasket, which became the rainbow push coalition. I interviewed Willie Barrow in 2008, on the floor of the Democratic National convention in denver, colorado, where she was a superdelegate. She told me how thennominee barack obama came to be her godson. He came we have a broadcast every saturday morning from 10 00 to 11 00. And he would bring in those two little girls every saturday morning. And he said to me one saturday reverend barrow, could i talk with you . I said, do you want to make an appointment . He said, no i want to talk with you now. I said, come on over. And he said, do you have godchildren . I said, yes. And he said, could i be one . I said, of course. Amy and Juanita Nelson has died at the age of 91 in greenfield , massachusetts. She was a longtime civil rights activist, war tax resister and farmer. She was first arrested in the early 1940s protesting lunch counter segregation in washington d. C. During world war ii, she met her future husband, wally nelson while he was in jail for refusing to fight in the war. In the late 1940s, they helped organize the first freedom rides in the south. At the same time, they stopped paying taxes for war. In 2005, i interviewed juanita about war tax resistance. A group called peacemakers had been started. We became members of that. It was the first or second year it was formed. It saw nonviolence as a way of life, not simply against war but the things that made for war, things made for poverty all that sort of thing. And so we just didnt pay taxes and we never filed after that. We never had much money anyhow but i always wanted to make at least . 10 more so i could thumb my nose at the government. Amy Juanita Nelson died on monday. She was 91. We will post the entire interview at democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Five years ago, the Supreme Court handed down its Citizens United decision striking down the prohibition on corporate expenditures in federal elections. The courts 54 decision opened the floodgates for corporate and undisclosed dark money to pour into the election process. According to the center for responsive politics, the number of donors giving more than 1 million to outside groups during elections has grown from two in 2006 to 84 in the 2014 congressional elections. The rightwing Koch Brothers have pledged to use their network of conservative advocacy groups to spend a staggering 900 million in advance of the 2016 president ial election. Amy the Citizens United decision, many corporations, including mcdonalds, monsanto, and peabody energy, has cited the Constitutional Rights and recent efforts to fight back against new laws. Mcdonalds and other franchises are now suing the city of seattle over its new 15 and hour minimumwage law, arguing it violates its corporate personhood rights. On tuesday, the International Franchise association told a federal judge that the law unfairly discriminates against franchise owners by treating them differently than local, Small Business proprietors. Theyre basing their case on the 14th amendment, a constitutional provision written to protect newlyfreed slaves after the civil war and ensure equal rights for all people. Monsanto is challenging for months recently passed gmolabeling law under the First Amendment, claiming it forces them to speak against their will. Today, we host a debate. Joining us from watertown, massachusetts, is ron fein from free speech for people, which backs the constitutional amendment to overturn the doctrine of corporate Constitutional Rights. And in boston, were joined by Kent Greenfield, professor of law and Deans Research scholar at Boston College law school. He recently wrote a piece for Washington Monthly called, let us now praise corporate persons. We welcome you both. Ron fein explain what is meant by corporate personhood. Thank you amy and juan and professor greenfield. We talking about the constitution. The idea of a corporate personhood is a doctrine that comes out originally of state law and enables a corporation to have some of the legal rights as people when we deem it is appropriate for them to do so. For example, a corporation can own property, sell property, sue and be sued. That is all good. But when we are talking about the constitution, that metaphor of the corporation is person becomes extremely dangerous because it leads to fuzzy thinking and that is why we see things like the eagle protection clause cases were corporations are claiming that regulations about the minimum wage that treats certain types of corporations to freely from others, are a form of discrimination that we should be concerned about and similarly under the First Amendment, we see also corporations in the metaphor of personhood to refuse to speak as if they were a dissenting religious minority, when what is being asked of them is to disclose information about what is in the products they sell. You take that metaphor of corp. Personhood and transpose it onto the constitution becomes extremely dangerous and that is why we have seen a sustained and renewed assault on laws ranging from minimumwage to genetically engineered f