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In the US they are, thanks to Citizens United.
by pionar 3y ago
In the US they are, thanks to Citizens United.
- skissane 3y ago> In the US they are, thanks to Citizens United. The idea of corporations as legal persons predates the United States. English law recognised trade guilds and religious orders as legal persons as early as the 14th century. There is nothing specifically American about the idea at all-the US inherited it from English law, as did all other common law countries-and English law didn’t invent it either, similar concepts existed in mediaeval Catholic canon law (religious orders as legal persons) and even in Ancient Roman law (which granted legal personhood to pre-Christian priestly colleges)
- marshray 3y agoFascinating! Also, the root "corp[us]" literally means "body". Corporations are Frankensteins, basically.