Heidegger

That is partly correct. However, Corporations cannot be tried for ‘crimes’ perpetrated on ‘citizens’, only citizens can be charged and tried for crimes. There is no criminal code in the USA which allows Corporations to be charged and tried for crimes. Thus there is no criminal penalty for being a Corporation, when it is found to be guilty of a crime. Only persons, with citizenship can be charged, tried and convicted of a crime.

Accordingly, a Corporation has the same status as a person for taxation purposes. Therefore it can only be sued for civilian issues, or unders civil laws, not criminal laws, because a corporation cannot have ‘intent’ like a mean person. You cannot ‘imprison’ a corporation, only a person.

Executive and employees of corporations can be charged, tried and convicted for crimes.

However there is one exception, and I believe that is with respect to National Governments. Accordingly, the World Court of Justice can find a National Government to have committed a crime, and that does not exclude the USA.

Since employees may enjoy some amount of ‘vicarious liability’, it would therefore be possible to charge a National Government for Criminal Activities….Recently Iraq has filed suit to make the USA and Britian pay for the damages caused by the use of uranium bombs.

This action would suffice as a ‘civil action’ requiring damages for the harm, but if the action was successful, it would be possible for Iraqi’s to seek some redress in a Criminal Court of Law. Usually it is the other way: first a nation would seek a criminal charge, then seek compensation. However since the US and Britian are still in Iraq, it would be wiser to sue for damages for something like the harm that uranium bombs has caused to the citizens of Iraq…

George Bush will never be charged, tried and convicted for his authorization of the use of uranium bombs in Iraq; simply because Iraqi courts have no jurisdiction in the US. However if the US was a tiny weeny little backward Republic, and George “Saddam” Bush the second, was found to have committed this crime, of using Depleted Uranium Bombs, suredly there would be a Court of Justice set up immediately to try him and convict him based on the evidence which would surely amount to ‘beyond any reasonable doubt’….

The damage will have to be reversed in another way, and that is what is happening now….as we see with the current situation both in Afghanistan/Pakistan and Iraq….wherein the US would like to exit but cannot due to economics….just like Hitler and the Nazis could not capitulate to the Red Army in Berlin….in 1944

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From: That Pete
To: Discussions pertaining to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 9:57:24 AM
Subject: Re: Are corporations people ?

The Supreme Court ruled corporations are legally people in the 19th century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara…

My understanding is that a corporation is just that, treating a business as a body (person) for legal purposes. The recent ruling was a nuance in interpretation.

—– Original Message —-
From: Jan Straathof
To: Discussions pertaining to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 9:26:41 AM
Subject: Are corporations people ?

Dear All,

I recently heard the US Supreme Court has decided that corporations are people,
i.a. implying entitlement to First Amendment rights and protection.

I was wondering on what philosophical grounds this decision was based. At first
thought it seems to me a grotesque fallacy to equate people with corporations.

Don’t they belong to completely different (ontological) categories ?

yours,
Jan

Posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 7:00 am
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