United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883), or the Ku Klux Case, was a case in which the US Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to penalize crimes such as assault and murder in most circumstances.[1] The Court declared that only state governments have the power to penalize those crimes.
| United States v. Harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Decided January 22, 1883 | |
| Full case name | United States v. R. G. Harris, et al. |
| Citations | 106 U.S. 629 (more) 1 S. Ct. 601; 27 L. Ed. 290; 1882 U.S. LEXIS 1595 |
| Holding | |
| Local governments, not the federal government, have the power to penalize crimes such as assault and murder. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Woods, joined by Waite, Miller, Field, Bradley, Mathews, Gray, Blatchford |
| Dissent | Harlan (on the question of jurisdiction; no opinion on the merits) |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Amend. XIV Section 2 of the Third Enforcement Act | |
In the specific case, four men were removed from a Crockett County, Tennessee, jail by a group led by Sheriff R. G. Harris and 19 others. The four men were beaten, and one was killed. A deputy sheriff tried to prevent the act but failed.
Section 2 of the Force Act of 1871 was declared unconstitutional on the theory that an Act to enforce the Equal Protection Clause applied only to state actions, not individuals' actions.
See also
editReferences
editFurther reading
edit- Divine, Robert A.; et al. (2005). The American Story. New York: Pearson Education. p. 413. ISBN 978-0-321-18313-2.
- Lawrence, Frederick M. (1993). "Civil rights and criminal wrongs: The mens rea of Federal civil rights crimes". Tulane Law Review. 67: 2113–2229.
External links
edit- Text of United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883) is available from: CourtListener Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist
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