The truth (and lies) behind how corporations became persons

In the U.S., corporations come to be understood as “people” thanks to a series of lawsuits over 130 years ago involving a lawyer who lied to the Supreme Court, an ethically challenged justice and one of the most powerful corporations of the day.

Apparently, not only were the rights of corporations not raised in the public debates over the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, which covers citizenship rights, or in any of the states’ ratifying conventions, but no member of the drafting committee had ever suggested that corporations were covered. Here’s the situation in Canada.