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Corportate Personhood
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1809 (Bank of the United States v. Deveaux)
In the early days ( when state and federal courts obtained their own power) a precursor sued a Georgia tax collector named Peter Deveaux for property he had seized when the bank failed to pay state taxes. Deveaux argued that, because corporations weren't people, they couldn't sue in federal court. Chief Justice John Marshall agreed. Burt Neuborne, a corporate law professor at New York University, Wall Street banks hated this decision because it restricted suits to state courts. -
1853 (Marshall v. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad)
The Supreme Court confirmed that corporations were citizens, however, they did not have the same constitutional rights as actual people. The court also ruled that shareholders would be considered citizens of their company's home state. This made it easier for corporations to sue or be sued in federal court by eliminating conflicts. -
1898 (Smyth v. Ames)
The court voided a Nebraska railroad tax, ruling that it was similar to the government taking a corporation's property without due process. This ultimately led to a violation of its 14th Amendment rights. -
1906 (Hale v. Henkel)
Having blocked unlawful seizures of corporate property, the court shield companies from other kinds of intrusions. Justice Henry Billings Brown found that corporations, are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment. -
2010 (Citizens United v. FEC)
In the 2008 election, the Federal Elections Commission blocked nonprofit Citizens from airing a film about Hillary Clinton. The organization sued, arguing that, because people's campaign donations are a protected form of speech and corporations and people enjoy the same legal rights, the government can't limit a corporation's independent political donations. The Supreme Court agreed. The Citizens United ruling may be the most sweeping expansion of corporate personhood to date. -
2014 (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby)
In 2012, Hobby Lobby sued the federal government, arguing that a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring it to provide contraception coverage for employees violated shareholders' constitutional rights to freedom of religion. The Supreme Court sided with Hobby Lobby and found that corporations can assert the religious rights of their owners, greatly expanding the power of shareholders.
