Key Supreme Court Rulings in the History Of

KEY SUPREME COURT RULINGS IN THE HISTORY OF

CORPORATE “PERSONHOOD”

1819 – Dartmouth v. Woodward. A corporate charter is ruled to be a contract, giving corporations standing in the constitution and subject to the Contracts Clause.

1886 – Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. After the Civil War railroads were flush with profit from transporting soldiers and material on both sides of the war. They used the newly passed 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law to all persons (and meant to protect the rights of formerly enslaved humans) to argue that corporations, as artificial “persons” for purposes of following the law, were also protected. The Supreme Court justices had all received free rail passes for themselves and their families. The case was a narrow tax case, not decided on corporate personhood grounds, but the clerk, retired railroad executive John Chandler Davis, put a headnote in the record of the case claiming the Chief Justice had said, “The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provisions in the 14thAmendment , which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does.” This became precedent for subsequent cases.

1893 – Noble v. Union River Logging. A corporation gets 5th Amendment protection, the first time corporations gain a specific right in the Bill of Rights.

1906 – Hale v. Henkel. A corporation gets 4th Amendment search and seizure protection.

1908 – Armour Packing Co. v. United States. A corporation gets 6th Amendment right to a jury trial in a criminal case.

1922 – Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon. A regulation is deemed a “taking” under the 5th Amendment; “. . . nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

1970 – Ross v. Bernhard. A corporation gets 7th Amendment right to a jury trial in a civil case.

1976 – Buckley v. Valeo. Financial contributions to candidates or political parties is ruled to be free speech, protected by the 1st Amendment.

1977 –First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti. Using Buckley v. Valeo as precedent, state restrictions of spending to influence referenda are overturned.

1978 – Marshall v. Barlow. Corporation ruled to have 4th Amendment search and seizure rights for simple monitoring of regulatory compliance.

1986 – Pacific Gas and Electric Company v. Public Utilities Commission. Supreme Court rules that 1st Amendment free speech rights include the right to not speak.

1996 – International Dairy Foods Association v. Amestoy. The 1st Amendment free speech right to not speak applies to food labeling, overturning a Vermont law requiring labeling of bovine growth hormone in dairy foods.

2010 – Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. Most provisions of McCain – Feingold campaign finance law overturned on grounds that political spending is free speech.

2014 – Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The religious beliefs of a corporation’s owners apply to the corporation.