>Either of those cases would require admitting, in the highest courts, that companies are above Constitutional law.
No, it really wouldn't... especially if the technicality route were taken.
> That would effectively nullify the purpose of the government existing.
A lot of what government does isn't authorized by the Constitution -- in fact, if you got rid of the agencies that *WERE* authorized/justified by the Constitution it'd be a very short list, something like: Post Office, Army, Navy, IRS [16 Amd], Secret Service [pared down to only counterfeiting cases], Copyright and Patent, and Department of Transportation -- No DoE, no USDA, no DoD, no Air Force, no NASA, no CIA/NSA/FBI, no ATF.
> That can't happen, not just morally but legally. People are considered subservient/protected by Constitutional law, and corporations are now regarded as "people", vis-a-vis Citizens United.
People are supposed to be protected by Constitutional law FROM THE GOVERNMENT -- this is why there are prohibitions on things like Ex Post Facto law, Bill of Attainder, arbitrary search and seizure, the speaking and publishing of ideas, the exercise of religion, etc.
But you do hit on a way on which the companies can be fucking gutted: the Constitution authorizes the exclusive right of Copyright/Patent *ONLY* to the Author/Inventor -- while all authors and inventors are persons, not all persons are inventors and/or authors -- and the corporation cannot author/invent anything because all it can do is commission employees (the actual authors/inventors to do so).