Much ado about corporate personhood…[1]
Legal personhood has a specific legal definition and it doesn’t mean we mistake corporations for people. Some real people don’t get some rights, and the legal personhood of a corporation doth not a fully legal person make.
So, first, what’s the MOST that a “person” can be?
Hurray!
But some people who actually ARE people (humans, natural persons, etc.) don’t get all the rights others enjoy.
There are different types of “legal persons” who are not natural persons but nonetheless have standing in court and certain rights.
And some some types of entities are legally regulated but have neither standing nor autonomy.[2]
Different entities have different types of legal standing which relate to their “personhood” that may have nothing to do with them actually being human. Corporations can’t get married or vote, but neither can children.
Children can’t sign contracts, though all the non-human “Legal Persons” can. Does this mean that the law thinks children aren’t people and ships are?
Don’t be ridiculous.
- There was the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United – where corporations get First Amendment protection for speech. And Mitt Romney popularized the topic in the debates.↵
- I am, incidentally, a strong proponent for the more humane treatment of animals – see my post “Animals are People, Too.” The environment should be considered as important, if not more important, than growing the economy (Quality of life over standard of living, anyone?). And the artificially intelligent entities that control our financial systems and are increasingly in charge of innovation may require a reexamination of their legal status, as well.↵
Great post, Rocky! Now this is totally tangential, but the general rule is that children -can- sign contracts–it’s just that the contract would be voidable by the child, and thus not very useful to the adult contracting party.
Sorry, just had to get that out there because BarBri’s been hammering it into my head. You know how it is with BarBri.
Not to pick a fight with barbri on this one, but I believe that the ability of a minor to sign a contractual agreement varies significantly state by state. I think that it can also depend on the type of agreement being signed(employment contract vs. waiver of liability vs. whatever). That being said, I’m not a real lawyer, so I probably don’t know what I’m talking about.
Robots sign contracts on the Internet all the time, and children agreeing to contracts with artificial entities, corporations, and all sorts of stuff!
Have you checked your Terms of Service lately?