person
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 370 U.S. 405 - United States v. Wise · 1962Most cited · 490 citing opinions
Sherman Act § 1 · construing 15 U.S.C. § 1 · Sherman Antitrust Act
a corporate officer is subject to prosecution under § 1 of the Sherman Act whenever he knowingly participates in effecting the illegal contract, combination, or conspiracy—be he one who authorizes, orders, or helps perpetrate the crime—regardless of whether he is acting in a representative capacity.
How the Supreme Court has restated “person”
Each Supreme Court definition of “person,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “person”
Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “person” — 1,615 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1910–1962
- ORIGINAL
That a corporation is a person, within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, is no longer open to discussion.
within 14th Amendment, includes corporations
includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, or legal successor or representative of any of the foregoing, and includes the United States or any agency thereof, or any other government, or any of its political subdivisions, or any agency of any of the foregoing
The Sherman Law in § 8 defines 'person' to include corporations 'existing' under the laws of any State. The question whether a corporation 'exists' for any purpose is thus determined by reference to state law.
a municipality was not a 'person' within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983
42 U.S.C. § 1983