Corporations did not always have the amount of power that they currently have.
This case looks at whether a company or corporation fit within the meaning of a citizen within the Constitution. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that a corporation could not be preceived as a citizen. It’s a short ruling, and it’s a great place to start learning about how corporations were first recognized.
Supreme Court Justice Curtis
Within this case, Justice Curtis explains the view of the Supreme Court that
The averment that the company is a citizen of the State of Indiana can have no sensible meaning attached to it.
This Court does not hold that either a voluntary associatation of persons or an association into a body politic created by law is a citizen of a state within the meaning of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court seemed to take the stand that a corporation could not be a citizen, yet a person designated to be their representative could partake in actions on the corporation’s behalf.
This corporation, existing only by virtue of a law of Indiana, cannot be deemed to pass personally beyond the limits of that state.
Gradually through the years, corporations consistently fought for the designation of corporate ‘personhood’. Lafayette Insurance Company v. French, 1855, and earlier rulings have stated that a corporation is not a citizen under the Constitution.
Download the 4 page pdf of 1855 Lafayette Co v. French. Or go to the following links:
http://supreme.justia.com/us/59/404/case.html
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/59/404.html