Are Corporations Really People?
In January 2013, Bay Area activist Jonathan Frieman contested a carpool ticket in Marin County, CA Traffic Court to challenge the absurdity of corporate personhood. The resulting viral media and internet sensation generated this site in order to help and teach people more about the issue.
TheCarpoollaneGuy.com is dedicated to supporting Jonathan Frieman's creative legal challenge to the laws of "corporate personhood," inspiring grassroots activists and increasing public awareness corporate power.
This site is updated periodically for accuracy; to keep readers current about Frieman's case; to learn more about the controversy surrounding the legal concept of corporate personhood; and so you can share your own ideas about new ways to challenge absurd and oppressive systems of power.
Who is the Carpool Guy?
Challenging Corporate Personhood
The Carpool Guy is Jonathan Frieman, a community advocate from the San Francisco Bay area who is making a stand in order to challenge the extent of extraordinary powers that corporations have over the common human.
Stay Educated
Cases With Precedence
The court decision subsequently was cited as precedent to hold that a private corporation was a "natural person." Justices have since struck down hundreds of local, state and federal laws enacted to protect people from corporate harm based on this illegitimate premise.
Join the Effort
Reclaiming Constitutional Rights
Consider Jonathan’s case a call to action—an invitation to step up our collective efforts to identify and expose corporate loopholes and legal technicalities that serve to dehumanize real Americans who are just struggling to make ends meet.
The Legal Argument
The definition of a “person” under California's State Vehicle Code includes "natural persons" and "corporations." In light of this fact, when a human driver is operating his or her vehicle in the carpool lane and reads signs which state "2 or more persons per vehicle," it means the vehicle is required to carry two persons in order to drive in the carpool lane during the restricted hours of rush hour. Ergo, Frieman correctly concluded that, under California Vehicle Code Section 470, when he carried incorporation papers with him in the care, he was not the only "person" in the car when he was issued a carpool citation.
Resources
A "'Person' includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation."
The Law that allows the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to create high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
The Motion (MPA) that Jonathan Frieman submitted to the court for his January 7th, 2013 Marin County Superior Court Hearing
The Case
Corporations Are Not Persons
On Oct. 2nd, 2012, Jonathan "The Carpool Guy" Frieman was driving in Marin County's carpool lane with legal documents that had incorporated his nonprofit corporation, the JoMiJo Foundation, when he was pulled over by California Highway Patrol and issued a citation for violating California's High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), aka carpool regulations. While Frieman was the only human passenger in the car, California's High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), aka carpool regulations, mandate that "2 or more persons per vehicle" is the requirement for driving in the carpool lane during permitted hours. At the time of the citation on the morning of October 2nd, Mr. Frieman informed the state trooper that he was not in violation of California State Vehicle Code because the nonprofit incorporation papers on the seat next to him (represented by its articles of incorporation) qualified as a "person" under state law. Nonetheless, the state trooper cited Mr. Frieman and instructed him to take it up with the court.
The Appeal
Jonathan Frieman contested his citation in Marin County Traffic Court on January 7th, 2013, stating that, because California's Vehicle Code §470 defines a "person" to not only mean "natural persons" but also "corporations." His argument was that anyone qualified to drive in the HOV lane may drive their duireing restrxited hours with incorporation papers. IN Frieman;s case, it was his family foundation, a nonprofit corpoartion organized under California state law. Thus, the incorporation papers in the seat next to him qualified as a person under that code section.
This was all a part of Frieman's plan--he had been purposefully driving in the carpool lane with a corporation as a passenger for 10 years. He'd never been caught because enforcement is so lax, and so he had to work to get caught by trolling highway 101 in the morning and the afternoon rush hours in the hopes of finding a police officer to stop him.
Legally, Frieman was still handed a "guilty" verdict and instructed to pay his $478 fine. Instead, he chose to appeal the Traffic Court's decision to Marin's Superior Court. Frieman and his attorney Ford Greene appealed the verdict to the Marin County Superior Court. In August of 2013, Judge Verna Adams denied the appeal. That decision will be posted as soon as Frieman figures out how to do that on this web site.
He appealed Adams' decision to the next level, the California Court of Appeals. The Court also denied the appeal, with no reason given. Without funds, the case was dropped. To this day Frieman still drives in the carpool lane during restricted hours with incorporation papers on his cell phone.
Contact Us
Get in touch with Jonathan Frieman directly, or fill out the provided contact form.
Phone: (415) 845-1371
Email: yogi@well.com
Facebook: Occupy the Carpool Lane