The legal ghost in the machine: how corporations became people
In short: Corporations aren't just businesses; they are legal fictions with the power to own land, sign contracts, and sue you. This 'personhood' allows them to exist forever, outliving their founders. But as the line between corporate interests and human rights blurs, the legal definition of a 'person' is being pushed to its limits.
The concept of the corporation is a 'creature of statute' rooted in Roman law. Derived from the Latin word 'corpus' (body), it established that an entity could exist as a distinct body from its members. In the Middle Ages, this was used to create foundations and charters that allowed for perpetual ownership of assets. This prevented property from being fragmented by inheritance laws and allowed organizations like the early Catholic Church or medieval towns to hold property and enter contracts independently of their individual members.
In the United States, corporate personhood evolved from royal 'concessions' to modern statutory rights. By the 19th century, the Supreme Court began granting corporations constitutional protections. For example, in Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819), the Court protected corporate contracts, and in Pembina Consolidated Silver Mining Co. v. Pennsylvania (1888), it found corporations protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. These rulings created a framework where corporations could drive economic growth by encouraging investment through limited liability, shielding shareholders from being sued for the company's debts.
The most contentious frontier is the First Amendment. While the 1907 Tillman Act originally banned corporate campaign contributions, the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision struck down spending limits as violations of free speech. This culminated in the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, which held that corporations are associations of individuals entitled to free speech. This has led to the rise of 'super PACs,' which spent nearly $3 billion on federal elections between 2010 and 2018. Today, some lawmakers are proposing constitutional amendments to clarify that corporations are not entitled to these specific rights.
Despite these expansions, corporate personhood is not absolute. The Court has ruled that corporations do not have 'personal privacy' interests under the Freedom of Information Act (FCC v. (AT&T, 2011) and that entities of a corporate nature are exempt from the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination. The debate remains: is corporate personhood a necessary tool for economic progress, or a legal loophole that allows 'dark money' to undermine the integrity of the political process?
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Corporate Personhood: What It Means and How It Has Evolved
- Also: Corporate personhood
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