Did Citizens United legalize slavery?

No, it wouldn't. Corporations are not recognized as "people" but as "persons." That's a subtle but real difference. Slavery, or any form of involuntary servitude, was effectively outlawed by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Isn't people is referred to as a population of persons, and if recognized as persons then wouldn't it still mean that a person can own a person? So it contradicts the 13th Amendment and therefore can the law be nullified?

Thank you for responding by the way

No, in a legal sense 'people' and 'persons' do not mean the same thing. People refers to human beings, homo sapiens. A person can be any entity which has certain obligations under the law. A person must pay taxes, as just one example. Both people and corporations are subject to taxes. Corporations can be sued in court just as people can. This, too, gives them the status of personhood. When you enter a civil suit against a corporation and win your case, it doesn't affect the bank accounts of the people who own the corporation. They are protected from legal liability because the corporation itself is considered to be the 'person' that has wronged you. This has absolutely nothing to do with ownership. The fact that corporations are ultimately owned by their stockholders (i.e. people) has no bearing on the matter. The 13th Amendment stands and has no bearing on his.

Did the definition change as a result of the ruling or has that definition always been like that?

Historically, in legal language, a "person" has never been considered the same as a "human being," at least not for a long, long time. The ruling was just a matter of affirming that a corporation has the status of "person" just as "people" have that status. It's similar in theology. Concepts such as "the Holy Spirit" are considered "persons" even though they're obviously not human.

Did Citizens United legalize slavery?

no, but the current wave of Right to Work legislation surely will

Oh yeah? What's the asking price for one United Auto Worker?

i was once, and much against my better judgement, a CAW member

i wouldn't give you two cents for most union members i've encountered

I'm not so sure about that. There has been a lot of outrage recently about corporations being treated as "persons," but it's a little late in the day for that. Corporations have been considered juridical persons for well over a century. The distinction, then, isn't between persons and people, it's between juridical (or artificial) persons and natural persons.

It goes without saying that juridical persons don't enjoy all of the rights that natural persons do. Corporations, for instance, can't vote or serve on juries. The law, therefore, does not ignore the basic distinctions between artificial and natural persons, and that goes for the distinction between the ownership of artificial persons, which is permitted, and the ownership of natural persons, which is not.

Thanx for your input, joe. I was hoping one of A2k's lawyers would show up to set me straight. I'm just a layman with a layman's understanding of the law and the O.P. needed an answer.

The people corp that break the law dont go to jail for their infractions and neither do the people who run the people corps. and dont give me that crap about fines because the really big ones can usually afford a billion $.