Georgia McGinty was a passenger in an Uber that got into an accident and was badly injured. She wants to sue Uber but the New Jersey Superior Court ruled she can’t because she agreed to the company’s terms of service. It was actually her 12 year old daughter using her mom’s Uber Eats account which invalidated her right to a trial by jury... by ordering a pizza. The legal foundation that made that possible traces back to a sentence written in 1886.
Thom Hartmann’s new book Who Killed the American Dream investigates how a fraudulent sentence hijacked the amendment written to give freed slaves equal protection under the Constitution. This has transformed who funds your elections, whether your boss can deny you birth control, whether your water is safe to drink, and whether you have any rights at all. In this episode of Rough Beasts I investigate how a 140 year old ruling on fence posts, yes fence posts, will make you think twice before you hit I agree on your next delivery app. This is part book review and part my own investigation into why such an absurd notion as corporate personhood became the universal law for how companies conduct business. To understand how laws like this keep on working, we have to go back 1600 years.
Watch this episode then get Who Killed the American Dream at ThomHartmann.com
Sources & Citations
McGinty v. Uber Technologies, New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division (2024). Law&Crime Network.
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886). supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/118/394/
Thom Hartmann, Who Killed the American Dream? The Greatest Political Crime Ever Told, Kalorama/Penguin Random House, 2026.
The Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873). Justice Samuel Miller, majority opinion. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/83/36/
Justice John Marshall Harlan, majority opinion, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886).
Speeches and Addresses by D.M. Delmas, self-published, 1901.
New York Sun, March 9, 1881. New York Herald, March 9 and December 17, 1881.
New York City Local Law 52 (2026). Federal injunction, Judge Gregory Woods, Southern District of New York, July 2026. New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
Roberts VRA memos, Reagan Justice Department, 1981-1982. New York Times and Washington Post archives.
Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder, 557 U.S. 193 (2009). supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/557/193/
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013). supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/570/529/
U.S. House Judiciary Committee, H.R. Rep. No. 109-478 (2006). VRA Reauthorization legislative record.
Richard A. Posner, "The Voting Rights Act Ruling Is About the Conservative Imagination," Slate, June 26, 2013.
Augustine of Hippo, letters to Boniface and Marcellinus, c. 417-418 AD. Political Writings, ed. E.M. Atkins and R.J. Dodaro, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Pete Hegseth, Pentagon Christian worship service, March 25, 2026. PBS NewsHour. youtube.com/watch?v=2NrJU2aqGvQ
14th Amendment ratified July 9, 1868. Voting Rights Act signed August 6, 1965. Section 5 gutted: Shelby County v. Holder (2013). Section 2 gutted: Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. 647 (2021).
