person

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Uniform Commercial Code § 1-201. General Definitions:

(a) Unless the context otherwise requires, words or phrases defined in this section, or in the additional definitions contained in other articles of the Uniform Commercial Code that apply to particular articles or parts thereof, have the meanings stated.

(b) Subject to definitions contained in other articles of the Uniform Commercial Code that apply to particular articles or parts thereof:

(27) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity.

 

26 United States Code (U.S. Cde) § 7701 – Definitions:

The term “person” shall be construed to mean and include an individual, a trust, estate, partnership, association, company or corporation.

 

27 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 72.11 – Meaning of terms.:

Person. An individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company or a corporation.

 

15 U.S. Code § 1602 – Definitions and rules of construction:

(e) The term “person” means a natural person or an organization.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1961 – Definitions:

(3) “person” includes any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property;

Black’s Law Dictionary 1st Edition, page 892:

“A man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes. 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 137.

Persons are divided by law into natural and artificial. Natural persons are such as the God of nature formed us; artificial are such as are created and devised by human laws, for the purposes of society and government, which are called “corporations” or “bodies politic.” 1 Bl. Comm. 123.”

 

Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Edition, page 895:

“A man considered according to , the rank h e holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes. 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 137.A human being considered as capable of having rights and of being charged with du­ties; while a “thing” is the object over which rights may be· exercised.-Artificial persons. Such as are created and devised by law for the purposes of society and government, called “corporations” or bodies politic.” -Natural persons. Such as are formed by nature, as distinguished from artificial­ persons, or corporations. -Private per­son. An individual who is not the incumbent of an office.”

 

Black’s Law Dictionary 4th Edition, pages 1299-1300:

“A man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the right to which the place he holds entitles him, and the du- ties which it imposes. People v. R. Co., 134 N.Y. 506, 31 N.E. 873.The word in its natural and usual signification includes women as well as men. Commonwealth v. Welosky, 276 Mass. 398, 177 N.E. 656.

Term may include artificial beings, as corpora- tions, 1 Bla.Com. 123; 4 Bingh. 669; People v. Com’rs of Taxes, 23 N.Y. 242; quasi-corpora- tions, Sedgw. Stat. & Const. L. 372; L. R. 5 App. Cas. 857; territorial corporations, Seymour v. School District, 53 Conn. 507, 3 A. 552; and for- eign corporations, People v. McLean, 80 N.Y. 259; under statutes, forbidding the taking of property without due process of law and giving to all per- sons the equal protection of the laws, Smyth v. Ames, 18 S.Ct. 418, 169 U.S. 466, 42 L.Ed. 819; Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Ellis, 17 S.Ct. 255, 165 U.S. 150, 41 L.Ed. 666; concerning claims arising from Indian depredations, U. S. v. Transp. Co., 17 S.Ct. 206, 164 U.S. 686, 41 L.Ed. 599; relating to taxation and the revenue laws, People v. Mc- Lean, 80 N.Y. 254; to attachments, Bray v. Wal- lingford, 20 Conn. 416; usurious contracts, Phil- adelphia Loan Co. v. Towner, 13 Conn. 249; ap- plying to limitation of actions, Olcott v. R. Co., 20 N.Y. 210, 75 Am.Dec. 393; North Mo. R. Co. v. Akers, 4 Kan. 453, 96 Am.Dec. 183; and concern- ing the admissibility as a witness of a party in his own behalf when the opposite party is a liv- ing person, La Farge v. Ins. Co., 22 N.Y. 352. A. corporation is also a person under a penal stat- ute; U. S. v. Amedy, 11 Wheat. 392, 6 L.Ed. 502. Corporations are “persons” as that word is used in the first clause of the XIVth Amendment; Cov- ington & L. Turnp. Co. v. Sandford, 17 S.Ct. 198, 164 U.S. 578, 41 L.Ed. 560; Smyth v. Ames, 18 S.Ct. 418, 169 U.S. 466, 42 L.Ed. 819; People v. Fire Ass’n, 92 N.Y. 311, 44 Am.Rep. 380; U. S. v. Supply Co., 30 S.Ct. 15, 215 U.S. 50, 54 L.Ed. 87; contra, Central P. R. Co. v. Board, 60 Cal. 35. But a corporation of another state is not a “per- son” within the jurisdiction of the state until it has complied with the conditions of admission to do business in the state, Fire Ass’n of Phila. v. New York, 7 S.Ct. 108, 119 U.S. 110, 30 L.Ed. 342; and a statutory requirement of such conditions is not in conflict with the XIVth Amendment; Pembina Consol. S. M. & M. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 8 S.Ct. 737, 125 U.S. 181, 189, 31 L.Ed. 650.

It may include partnerships. In re Julian, D. C.Pa., 22 F.Supp. 97, 99. Also firms. State ex rel. Joseph R. Peebles Sons Co. v. State Board of Pharmacy, 127 Ohio St. 513, 189 N.E. 447, 448.

“Persons” are of two kinds, natural and artificial. A natural person is a human being. Artificial persons in- clude a collection or succession of natural persons forming a corporation; a collection of property to which the law attributes the capacity of having rights and duties. The latter class of artificial persons is recognized only to a limited extent in our law. Examples are the estate of a bankrupt or deceased person. Hogan v. Greenfield, 58 Wyo. 13, 122 P.2d 850, 853.

It has been held that when the word person is used in a legislative act, natural persons will be intended unless something appear in the context to show that it applies to artificial persons, Blair v. Worley, 1 Scam., Ill., 178; Ap- peal of Fox, 112 Pa. 337 ; 4 A. 149 ; but as a rule corpora- tions will be considered persons within the statutes unless the intention of the legislature is manifestly to exclude them. Stribbling v. Bank, 5 Rand., Va., 132.

A county is a person in a legal sense, Lancaster Co. v. Trimble, 34 Neb. 752, 52 N.W. 711; but a sovereign is not; In re Fox, 52 N.Y. 535, 11 Am.Rep. 751; U. S. v. Fox, 94 U.S. 315, 24 L.Ed. 192, but contra within the meaning of a statute, providing a penalty for ‘the fraudulent alteration of a public record with intent that any “person” be de- frauded, Martin v. State, 24 Tex. 61; and within the meaning of a covenant for quiet and peaceful possession against all and every person or persons; Giddings v. Holter, 19 Mont. 263, 48 P. 8. An Indian is a