Constitutional Personhood

Over the past decade, in a variety of high-profile cases, the Supreme Court has grappled with difficult questions as to the constitutional personhood of a variety of claimants. Of most note are the recent corporate constitutional personhood claims that the protections of the First Amendment Speech and Religion Clauses extend to corporate entities. Corporate constitutional personhood, however, is only a small slice of a broader constitutional question about who or what is entitled to claim the protection of any given constitutional right. Beyond corporations, courts are being asked to answer very real questions about a persons constitutional status: Do aliens have the right to bear arms? Do prisoners have the right to vote? Do children have a right to privacy? Yet, while commentators and the Supreme Court have examined the constitutional status of claimants independently, neither the Court nor scholars have examined the broader question of constitutional personhood.