Also known as: civitas · cives · civitates · citizen · citizenship · commonwealth
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person holding Roman citizenship and entitled to the associated public and private rights. Female citizens held only private rights.
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Corinne Cho, a naturalized citizen, seeks to run for president. State officials refuse to place her on the ballot, claiming she lacks the status of a civis under the constitutional framework for electors and officeholders. A court reviews whether her citizenship satisfies the requirements for eligibility by analogy to Roman civis rights.
Craig Caldwell shouts personally abusive epithets at a bystander during a protest. Police arrest him for using fighting words. The court must decide whether his status as a civis affects the First Amendment analysis of unprotected speech by analogy to Roman civis rights.
Cedar Creek Farms, incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Iowa, sues a supplier in federal court. The defendant challenges jurisdiction, arguing the company's civis status under the statute does not create complete diversity by analogy to Roman civis rights.
Claire Campbell offers a state-sealed birth certificate to prove her civis status in a probate proceeding. Opposing counsel objects to authenticity. The court admits the document without extrinsic evidence under the seal rule by analogy to Roman civis rights.
Cassandra Cooper sues a factory for polluting a river as a representative of the general public. The defendant moves to dismiss, claiming she lacks standing as a civis to bring a citizen's action under the restatement by analogy to Roman civis rights.
Cobalt Energy, a Delaware corporation, files suit against a Texas defendant. After filing, the company reincorporates in Texas. The defendant moves to dismiss for lack of diversity, but the court holds that civis status is fixed at the time of filing by analogy to Roman civis rights.
The term originates in Roman law as a designation for a person entitled to citizenship rights. Modern legal usage sometimes invokes it by analogy when discussing citizenship status in constitutional or jurisdictional contexts.
Supporting sources
A corporation is deemed a citizen of its state of incorporation and principal place of business. Courts determine diversity of citizenship at the time suit is filed, and later changes do not divest jurisdiction.
Federal rules permit timely pretrial challenges to a grand juror's legal qualifications, including citizenship. Lack of citizenship is a recognized ground for such a motion.
Supporting sources
…controlled by the President and for the non-performance of which he is not more responsible to the President than to any other citizen. It provides that he shall receive from the President all bills, orders, resolutions and votes of the Senate and House which have been approved and signed, cause them to be published and…