Cases - 1872 term

The Slaughterhouse Cases

Mon, 03 Feb 1873 13:00:00 +0000

Location

Former Louisiana State Capitol Building

100 North Blvd. Baton Rouge LA 70801

Baton Rouge, LA 70801

United States

30° 26' 49.4232" N, 91° 11' 24.5184" W

See map: Google Maps

Case Basics

Petitioner

The Slaughterhouse Cases

Petitioner Type

Petitioner

Respondent Type

Respondent

Heard By

Chase Court (1873)

Decided By

Chase Court (1873)

Opinion

83 U.S. 36 (1873)

Argued

Monday, February 3, 1873

Decided

Monday, April 14, 1873

Facts of the Case

Louisiana had created a partial monopoly of the slaughtering business and gave it to one company. Competitors argued that this created "involuntary servitude," abridged "privileges and immunities," denied "equal protection of the laws," and deprived them of "liberty and property without due process of law."

Question

Did the creation of the monopoly violate the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments?

Conclusion

Decision: 5 votes for , 4 vote(s) against
Legal provision: US Const. Amend. 13, 14, 15

No. The involuntary servitude claim did not forbid limits on the right to use one's property. The equal protection claim was misplaced since it was established to void laws discriminating against blacks. The due process claim simply imposes the identical requirements on the states as the fifth amendment imposes on the national government. The Court devoted most of its opinion to a narrow construction of the privileges and immunities clause, which was interpreted to apply to national citizenship, not state citizenship.

Bradwell v. Illinois

Sat, 18 Jan 1873 13:00:00 +0000

Location

Illinois Supreme Court

200 E. Capitol Springfield IL 62701

Springfield, IL 62701

United States

39° 47' 54.2112" N, 89° 39' 12.0852" W

See map: Google Maps

Case Basics

Petitioner

Bradwell

Petitioner Type

Petitioner

Respondent

Illinois

Respondent Type

Respondent

Heard By

Chase Court (1873)

Decided By

Chase Court (1873)

Opinion

83 U.S. 130 (1873)

Argued

Saturday, January 18, 1873

Decided

Tuesday, April 15, 1873

Facts of the Case

Myra Bradwell asserted her right to a license to practice law in Illinois by virtue of her status as a United States citizen. The judges of the Illinois Supreme Court denied her application with only one judge dissenting.

Question

Is the right to obtain a license to practice law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to all citizens of the United States?

Conclusion

No. While the Court agreed that all citizens enjoy certain privileges and immunities which individual states cannot take away, it did not agree that the right to practice law in a state's courts is one of them. There was no agreement, argued Justice Miller, that this right depended on citizenship. In his concurrence, Justice Bradley went above and beyond the constitutional explanations of the case to describe the reasons why it was natural and proper for women to be excluded from the legal profession. He cited the importance of maintaining the "respective spheres of man and woman," with women performing the duties of motherhood and wife in accordance with the "law of the Creator."