Southern Pacific Railroad

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad: The Corporate Personhood Precedent That Never Was

1886-05-10 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

In what would become one of the most consequential non-rulings in American legal history, a court reporter’s headnote to Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad established the foundation for corporate personhood without the Supreme Court ever deciding the issue. Before oral arguments, …

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Morrison Waite J.C. Bancroft Davis (Court Reporter) Southern Pacific Railroad Santa Clara County +1 more corporate-personhood supreme-court fourteenth-amendment constitutional-law gilded-age +3 more

Roscoe Conkling's Fraudulent Argument for Corporate Personhood in San Mateo County v. Southern Pacific

1882-12-19 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Former U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling, who had twice refused Supreme Court appointments to pursue his lucrative Gilded Age law practice, argued before the Court in San Mateo County v. Southern Pacific Railroad that the Fourteenth Amendment’s framers intentionally used “person” rather …

Roscoe Conkling U.S. Supreme Court Southern Pacific Railroad San Mateo County Joint Committee on Reconstruction corporate-personhood supreme-court fourteenth-amendment legal-corruption gilded-age +2 more