Paul v. Virginia
E21372
Paul v. Virginia is an 1869 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held corporations are not “citizens” under the Constitution’s Privileges and Immunities Clause, allowing states to regulate foreign insurance companies.
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Privileges and Immunities Clause case
ⓘ
U.S. constitutional law case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ |
| affectedArea |
interstate insurance business
ⓘ
state police power over business regulation ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
constitutional law
ⓘ
corporate law ⓘ insurance regulation ⓘ |
| branchOfGovernment | judicial branch of the United States government ⓘ |
| citation | 75 U.S. (8 Wall.) 168 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted |
Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution
ⓘ
surface form:
Article IV, Section 2, Privileges and Immunities Clause
Commerce Clause ⓘ
surface form:
Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution
|
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1869-03-01 ⓘ |
| decisionType | reported decision ⓘ |
| defendant |
Virginia
ⓘ
surface form:
Commonwealth of Virginia
|
| fullCaseName | Paul v. Virginia self-link ⓘ |
| holding |
A corporation is not a citizen within the meaning of the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.
ⓘ
Issuing an insurance policy is not commerce within the meaning of the Commerce Clause. ⓘ States may regulate and impose conditions on foreign insurance companies doing business within their borders. ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| languageOfProceeding | English ⓘ |
| laterLimitedBy | United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association ⓘ |
| legalDoctrine | corporations are not citizens for Article IV Privileges and Immunities purposes ⓘ |
| legalIssue |
Privileges and Immunities Clause
ⓘ
surface form:
Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV
state regulation of foreign corporations ⓘ status of corporations as citizens ⓘ |
| pageInUnitedStatesReports | 168 ⓘ |
| party |
Virginia
ⓘ
surface form:
Commonwealth of Virginia
Samuel B. Paul ⓘ |
| plaintiff | Samuel B. Paul ⓘ |
| precedentFor |
limitation of corporate access to Privileges and Immunities Clause
ⓘ
state power to regulate foreign corporations ⓘ |
| reporter | United States Reports ⓘ |
| result | judgment for Virginia ⓘ |
| shortDescription | U.S. Supreme Court case holding that corporations are not citizens under the Privileges and Immunities Clause and upholding state regulation of foreign insurance companies. ⓘ |
| stateInvolved | Virginia ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
corporate citizenship for constitutional purposes
ⓘ
licensing of out-of-state insurance companies ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 19th century ⓘ |
| volumeInUnitedStatesReports | 75 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1869 ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.