1873

In the Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873), the Supreme Court upholds a Louisiana statute requiring butchers in the city of New Orleans to use a common slaughterhouse. Justice Miller’s opinion strictly limits the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was originally intended to be the basic guarantor of civil equality. The Court’s interpretation virtually reads the Clause out of the Constitution. Later, in Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 130 (1873), the Court holds that Myra Bradwell has no right to be admitted to the Illinois state bar. The Court argues that the right to choose one’s profession does not constitute a privilege or immunity of citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment and that women in particular are not fit to be lawyers because of their legal and natural disabilities. Two years later, in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1875), the Court confirms that the Privileges or Immunities Clause does not give women the right to vote.

Year: 
1873
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