United States v. Harris
Appearance
United States v. Harris | |
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Decided January 22, 1883 | |
Full case name | United States v. R. G. Harris, et al. |
Citations | 106U.S.629(more) 1 S. Ct. 601; 27L. Ed.290; 1882U.S. LEXIS1595 |
Holding | |
Local governments, not the federal government, have the power to penalize crimes such as assault and murder. | |
Court membership | |
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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 theThird Enforcement Act |
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Wikisourcehas original text related to this article:
United States v. Harris,106 U.S. 629 (1883), or theKu KluxCase,was a case in which theUS Supreme Courtheld 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.
In the specific case, four men were removed from aCrockett 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 theForce Act of 1871was declared unconstitutional on the theory that an Act to enforce theEqual Protection Clauseapplied only to state actions, not individuals' actions.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Divine, Robert A.; et al. (2005).The American Story.New York: Pearson Education. p.413.ISBN978-0-321-18313-2.
- 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 ofUnited States v. Harris,106U.S.629 (1883) is available from:CourtListenerJustiaLibrary of CongressOpenJurist
Categories:
- United States Supreme Court cases
- United States Supreme Court cases of the Waite Court
- Criminal cases in the Waite Court
- United States equal protection case law
- United States Supreme Court criminal cases
- 1883 in United States case law
- 1883 in Tennessee
- Legal history of Tennessee
- Crockett County, Tennessee
- Ku Klux Klan
- United States Supreme Court stubs