United States v. Harris

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.

This article is about the 1883 U.S. Supreme Court case about the Equal Protection clause. For the 1991 7th Circuit case, see United States v. Harris (1991). Not to be confused with 1954 case about lobbying regulation, United States v. Harriss.
United States v. Harris
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided January 22, 1883
Full case nameUnited States v. R. G. Harris, et al.
Citations106 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
Chief Justice
Morrison Waite
Associate Justices
Samuel F. Miller · Stephen J. Field
Joseph P. Bradley · John M. Harlan
William B. Woods · Stanley Matthews
Horace Gray · Samuel Blatchford
Case opinions
MajorityWoods, joined by Waite, Miller, Field, Bradley, Mathews, Gray, Blatchford
DissentHarlan(silently, no opinion)
Laws applied
U.S. Const. Amend. XIV
Section 2 of the Third Enforcement Act
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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

References
  1. United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883).

Further reading
  • 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.


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