Trading Democracy
Everyone has heard about NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, but almost no one has heard about one of NAFTA's obscure provisions except for multinational corporations who are using it to challenge democracy. NAFTA's Chapter 11 has been called an "end run around the Constitution." Corporate investors are using Chapter 11 to attack public laws that protect our health and our environment and even challenge jury verdicts. The cases are not heard in open court, but before international trade tribunals that rule in secret.