1. PERSONHOOD CAPACITIES (Core Layer)

personPRI — Private‑Law Capacity

A natural person acting in a private, non‑governmental capacity.

• Private individual
• Private corporation
• State citizen (political status)
• Holder of private rights
• Subject to external federal authority
• Subject to state police power
• Not part of federal internal operations

personPUB — Public‑Law Capacity

A statutory or constitutional person acting as part of the federal government.

• Federal officer
• Federal employee
• Federal agency
• Federal instrumentality
• Holder of public duties
• Subject to internal federal authority
• Exercises delegated sovereign power

Structural rule:

Internal federal authority binds personPUB. External federal authority binds both personPRI and personPUB.

2. INTERNAL FEDERAL AUTHORITY (personPUB only)

Authority the national government exercises over itself.

Who is subject

• personPUB only

What it governs

• Civil service
• Federal personnel rules
• Agency management
• Federal property
• Federal territories
• Procurement, grants, benefits
• Internal rulemaking exceptions (5 U.S.C. § 553(a)(1)–(2))

Forms of law

• Civil statutory law (internal management)
• Criminal law (misconduct by officers)
• No common law (federal government has no general common law)

3. EXTERNAL FEDERAL AUTHORITY (personPRI + personPUB)

Authority the national government exercises over persons outside the federal government.

Who is subject

• personPRI
• personPUB (when acting externally)
• States
• Corporations
• Foreign nationals

What it governs

• Federal criminal law
• Federal taxation
• Interstate commerce
• Immigration
• Civil rights
• Environmental regulation

Forms of law

• Civil statutory law
• Criminal law
• Common law & equity (borrowed from states unless preempted)

4. DOMESTIC JURISDICTION (Inside U.S. territory)

Who is subject

• personPRI
• personPUB
• States

What it governs

• Internal Revenue Code
• Federal criminal code
• Civil rights statutes
• Commerce‑based regulation
• Federal courts’ Article III jurisdiction

Forms of law

• Civil statutory
• Criminal
• Common law & equity

5. EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION (Outside U.S. territory)

Who is subject

• personPRI (foreign income, sanctions, terrorism statutes)
• personPUB (military, diplomatic personnel)
• Foreign nationals
• Foreign governments (limited)

What it governs

• Foreign commerce
• Anti‑terrorism statutes
• Sanctions
• Military operations
• Certain tax rules for foreign income
• Immigration enforcement at borders

Forms of law

• Civil statutory
• Criminal
• International law
• No common law extraterritorially

6. CIVIL vs. POLITICAL STATUS (Capacity‑Aware)

Political Status (Constitutional)

• U.S. citizenship
• State citizenship
• Nationality
• Allegiance

Capacity alignment:

• Attaches to personPRI
• personPUB derives from political status but is not identical

Civil Status (Statutory)

• Taxpayer
• Resident
• Nonresident
• Alien
• Employee
• Officer

Capacity alignment:

• Can attach to personPRI or personPUB
• personPUB is always a public‑law civil status
• personPRI is always a private‑law civil status

7. FEDERAL vs. STATE SPHERES (Capacity‑Aware)

Federal Sphere

• Enumerated powers
• Federal property
• Foreign affairs
• National defense
• Immigration
• Interstate commerce
• Federal taxation

Capacity alignment:

• Governs personPUB internally
• Governs personPRI externally

State Sphere

• Police power
• Property law
• Contract law
• Family law
• Intrastate commerce
• State taxation
• State criminal law

Capacity alignment:

• Governs personPRI primarily
• Governs personPUB only when acting within state jurisdiction

8. FORMS OF LAW (Integrated With personPRI / personPUB)

A. Civil Statutory Law

• Regulatory statutes
• Tax statutes
• Administrative law
• Federal benefits
• Federal property rules

personPRI: subject when statute applies personPUB: subject internally and externally

B. Criminal Law

• Federal crimes
• State crimes
• Military crimes (UCMJ for personPUB in military capacity)

personPRI: subject to federal & state criminal law personPUB: subject to federal criminal law + special duties

C. Common Law & Equity

• State common law (torts, contracts, property)
• Federal courts apply state common law unless preempted
• Equity doctrines (injunctions, trusts, fiduciary duties)

personPRI: primary subject personPUB: subject only when acting outside internal federal capacity

9. DOMESTICC, DOMESTICP, FOREIGNC, FOREIGNP (Your Four‑Quadrant Grid)

These four categories combine civil vs. political with domestic vs. foreign.

DomesticP — Domestic Political Status

• U.S. citizen
• State citizen
• personPRI (political capacity)
• Constitutional allegiance

DomesticC — Domestic Civil Status

• Taxpayer
• Resident
• Employee
• Officer (if state‑level)
• personPRI or personPUB depending on statute

ForeignP — Foreign Political Status

• Non‑U.S. national
• Non‑resident alien (political sense)
• personPRI (foreign political capacity)

ForeignC — Foreign Civil Status

• Foreign corporation
• Foreign trust
• Foreign taxpayer (IRC sense)
• personPRI or personPUB depending on statutory classification

10. SYNTHESIS MATRIX (Final, Fully Integrated)

Category	personPRI	personPUB	DomesticC	DomesticP	ForeignC	ForeignP	Civil Statutory	Criminal	Common Law
Internal Federal Authority	❌	✔️	✔️	Derived	❌	❌	✔️	✔️	❌
External Federal Authority	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Domestic Jurisdiction	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Limited	Limited	✔️	✔️	✔️
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction	✔️	✔️	Limited	Limited	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌
Political Status	✔️	Derived	❌	✔️	❌	✔️	❌	❌	❌
Civil Status	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌	✔️	❌	✔️	✔️	✔️
Federal Sphere	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Limited
State Sphere	✔️	Limited	✔️	✔️	Limited	Limited	✔️	✔️	✔️

11. PUB/PRI DOCTRINAL ATLAS