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Paul v. Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul v. Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul v. Virginia, 75 US 168 (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/75/168/) (1869), is a

US corporate law case, of the United States Supreme Court. It held that a corporation is not a
citizen within the meaning of the Privileges and Immunities Clause. Of greater consequence, the
Court further held that "issuing a policy of insurance is not a transaction of commerce,"
effectively removing the business of insurance beyond the United States Congress's legislative
reach.

Contents

Paul v. Virginia

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued October 8, 12, 1869
Decided November 1, 1869

1 Facts

Full case Samuel Paul v. Virginia

name

2 Judgment

Citations 75 U.S. 168

(https://supreme.justia.com/us/75/168/case.html)
(more)
75 U.S. (8 Wall) 168; 19 L. Ed. 357; 1868 U.S.
LEXIS 1092

2.1 Supreme Court of Virginia

2.2 Supreme Court of the United States
3 Significance
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_v._Virginia

Holding
A corporation is not a citizen within the meaning of the
Privileges and Immunities Clause and issuing a policy of
insurance is not a transaction of commerce.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase
Associate Justices
Samuel Nelson Robert C. Grier
Nathan Clifford Noah H. Swayne
Samuel F. Miller David Davis
Stephen J. Field
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Facts

Paul v. Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Case opinions
Majority Field, joined by unanimous

Laws applied
In the 19th century, the insurance business was exclusively regulated by the states, individually.
As a result, a patchwork of separate regulations proliferated to the dismay of insurance
U.S. Const. Art. I, 8. and U.S. Const. Art. IV, 2
companies which sought uniform regulation across states. In an effort to promote federal
regulation of the insurance industry, a number of New York insurance companies orchestrated a test case to try to invalidate state regulation. On
February 3, 1866, the legislature of Virginia had passed a statute provided that an insurance company not incorporated under the laws of the state should
not carry on its business within the State without previously obtaining a license for that purpose and that it should not receive such license until it had
deposited with the treasurer of the state bonds in an amount varying from thirty to fifty thousand dollars.

In May 1866, Samuel Paul, a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, was appointed the agent of the New York insurance companies, to carry on the
general business of insurance against fire. He then applied for a license to act as such agent within the state, offering at the time to comply with all the
requirements of the statute with the exception of the provision requiring a deposit of bonds with the treasurer of the state. Based on his failure to comply
with the requirements of the statute, the license was refused. Notwithstanding this refusal he undertook to act in the State as agent for the New York
companies without any license.
Paul sold a fire insurance policy to a citizen of Virginia. He was then indicted and convicted in the Circuit Court of the city of Petersburg, and was
sentenced to pay a fine of $50. Paul claimed that the statute was invalid.

Judgment
Supreme Court of Virginia
The Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, the judgment was affirmed, and the case was then appealed to the Supreme Court. Paul claimed that the writ
of error on the judgment in the lower court violated Privileges and Immunities Clause, which provides that "The Citizens of each State shall be entitled
to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States" and the Commerce Clause, which empowers Congress "to regulate commerce with
foreign nations, and among the several States."

Supreme Court of the United States

The US Supreme Court held that a corporation is not a citizen within the meaning of the Privileges and Immunities Clause. It also held that "issuing a
policy of insurance is not a transaction of commerce," effectively removing the business of insurance beyond the United States Congress's legislative
reach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_v._Virginia

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Paul v. Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Significance
In 1944, the Supreme Court overturned the holding of Paul v. Virginia in United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, finding that
insurance transactions were subject to federal regulation under the Commerce Clause.[1]

See also
US corporate law
Legal person
Insurance law

Notes
1. 322 U.S. 533, 64 S. Ct. 1162, 88 L. Ed. 1440, 1944 U.S. LEXIS 1199

References
Henry N. Butler, Nineteeth century jurisdictional competition in the granting of corporate privileges (1985) 14(1) Journal of Legal Studies 129
(http://www.jstor.org/stable/724319)
F Tung, Before Competition: Origins of the Internal Affairs Doctrine (2006) 32 Iowa Journal of Corporate Law 33

External links
Works related to Paul v. Virginia at Wikisource
Paul v. Virginia, 75 U.S. 168 (1868) (http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/75/168/case.html) (opinion full text).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_v._Virginia&oldid=647123533"
Categories: United States Commerce Clause case law United States Supreme Court cases Privileges and Immunities case law
Legal history of Virginia 1869 in United States case law 1869 in Virginia United States Supreme Court cases of the Chase Court

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_v._Virginia

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Paul v. Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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