Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company

[Ilsa]

This is all very confusing to me, but I remember Thom Hartmann pointing it out. Maybe this is the 14th Amendment-related case that SCOTUS should revisit.

From Wikipedia:

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886), is a corporate law case of the United States Supreme Court concerning taxation of railroad properties. The case is most notable for a headnote stating that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment grants constitutional protections to corporations.

snip

The headnote, which is "not the work of the Court, but is simply the work of the Reporter, giving his understanding of the decision, prepared for the convenience of the profession",[2] was written by the Reporter of Decisions, former president of the Newburgh and New York Railway Company J.C. Bancroft Davis.

snip

So the headnote was a reporting by the Reporter of Decisions of the Chief Justice's interpretation of the Justices' opinions. But the issue of applicability of "Equal Protection to any persons" to the railroads was not addressed in the decision of the Court in the case.

Snip

[msfiddlestix]

1. If Memory Serces, this incredible story had been detailed in the documentary film: The Corporation

Strongly recommended viewing. During the Dumbya/Cheney reign of terror (as many of us defined it at the time) a movement for clean money campaign, newly revised Sunshine Law reforms were underway, and a deep dive into dark money behind the "Corporate Personhood" proliferating in courts. We learned it all began during the "industrial revolution" and the case of Santa Clara county vs Pacific Railroad. That is a story with a lower court decision that set the president, when it shouldn't have ever seen the light of day.

Wikioedea:

Back drop on the film The Corporation

Poster:

The Corporation

[Ilsa]

2. Thank you! I'll see if I can find it on one of the streaming tv services.

Sometimes titles like this don't show up in the first menus, and it might be on a free service.

[msfiddlestix]

5. probably can find it on youtube, and oh btw in one of the wiki links, mentions a 2020 sequel

so maybe both are on youtube?

[Ilsa]

8. I think "The New Corporation" is available on Tubi, which is free.

It has TFG in it, for sure.

[ultralite001]

3. The evil is real...

..."decades of immoral, destructive conduct by businesses whose CEOs understand that any fines that might be levied against them for their actions are worth paying, given the massive profits those actions will create."

More true every day...

[Wounded Bear]

4. The current SC is likely to strengthen that "non-decision"...nt

[msfiddlestix]

6. I think that Citizens United decision goes to your point, when they declared on THAT bench

Corporations are Persons. therefore...... etc...... etc...

corruption to nth degree

[Retrograde]

7. It's the basis for corporate citizenship

so of course stare decisis will hold in this case. If anything, they'll strengthen it - they know where the money is coming from.