CONTRACTED
Kindred Nursing Centers, L. P. v. Clark
581 U.S. 246 (2017) · 2017
A relative signs the admission paperwork. The right to a day in court leaves with the signature.
“The Kentucky Supreme Court's clear-statement rule fails to put arbitration agreements on an equal plane with other contracts.”
The Ruling
7–1: The Federal Arbitration Act pre-empts a state rule requiring a power of attorney to state expressly that the holder may waive the principal's right to a jury trial. Arbitration agreements signed on a resident's behalf are enforceable against the resident.
The Personhood Argument Not Made
The resident never appears. Standing is transferred at the moment of admission, usually by a family member handling a stack of forms during a crisis, and the transfer binds the person whose body is at stake. Personhood is not removed here — it is delegated, and delegation is legally indistinguishable from the person's own act. The one who cannot sign is bound most completely.
The Execution Gap Created
The right of access to a court is untouched in principle and every resident still holds it. It has simply already been exercised — by someone else, in advance, as a condition of receiving care. A right that can be signed away by a proxy at the threshold is available only to those who never needed to cross it.
Primary sources & research
Related cases
Part of The Personhood Prism, the companion to The Execution Gap by Thomas William Hornig. See all personhood cases →