in this case chief justice waite explicitly told the lawyers for the southern pacific railroad that his court would not rule on the issue of corporate personhood and they ought to move on with their arguments but a year later the chief justice was mortally ill with congestive heart failure after the case was decided and the case as i said was not did not decide that corporations have rights as persons and the core reporter jacey bancroft davis was a very wealthy and powerful man some of the former governor of massachusetts former president of the new newark and new york railroad and apparently good buddies with all the other railroad billionaires keep in mind at that time these guys were the bill gates's of their day they were literally the richest men in the world. now one of the things that supreme court reporters do in addition a chronicle in the case is to write a cliff notes version of the case this short summary has no legal standing whatsoever it's just there to make it easier for lawyers to find in the future and they're looking for a case it's called a but bizarrely in this cas

out of the eight hundred eighty six supreme court case of santa clara county versus the southern pacific railroad it was a case that set the legal precedent that corporations are people under the fourteenth amendment that despite the fact that the fourteenth amendment had nothing to do with corporations and everything to do with making sure that newly freed slaves are entitled to equal protection under the u.s. constitution and is despite the fact that none of the supreme court justices hearing the case actually ruled that corporations are people and actually they dismissed the argument altogether it was in that case that a famous lawyer perhaps one of the most well known american lawyers of all time dell from dawn it's not of the first defense against corporate personhood as i write my book on equal protection first book ever written on the subject of corporate personhood gelfand almost a man who was known as the silver tongued orator of the west argued before the high court why corporate personhood is so dangerous and why the fourteenth amendment must be preserved as is protection for all peopl

trade shifts opened on the pacific railroad line across nevada to northern california. it connects lines to central and southern california. union pacific rerouted its freight line through a different northern route while crews cleared the track. >>> 4:36 now. this morning one of san francisco's most important landmarks moving land marks will be back on the street. ribbon cut willing be held at 10:00 to mark completion of the california cable car line improvement project. that line that runs along california street from drum to van ness avenue has been out of service since january for repairs and system upgrades. during the work, crews also repaved 17 blocks of california street. >>> the party lasted late in the night after thousands enjoyed san francisco's annual gay pride parade. [ cheering ] as you can see, colorful floats and costumes of all sorts provided the sights and sounds along market street yesterday. crowds not only cheered for marchers and performers but for new york's decision last friday to legalize same-sex marriage. >> it's about time. it's time to end discrimination, no matter where it may be.