United States v. Cruikshank

E150291

Reconstruction-era civil rights case U.S. Supreme Court case legal case

United States v. Cruikshank was an 1876 U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely limited federal enforcement of civil rights protections, especially against racially motivated violence in the Reconstruction-era South.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
United States v. Cruikshank canonical	4
United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876)	1

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Reconstruction-era civil rights case ⓘ U.S. Supreme Court case ⓘ legal case ⓘ
aroseFrom	Colfax massacre ⓘ surface form: Colfax Massacre
concernsTopic	Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: Fifteenth Amendment First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ Second Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: Second Amendment federal civil rights enforcement ⓘ racially motivated violence ⓘ state action doctrine ⓘ
followedBy	The Civil Rights Cases (1883) ⓘ surface form: Civil Rights Cases
hasChiefJustice	Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite ⓘ surface form: Morrison R. Waite
hasCitation	92 U.S. 542 ⓘ
hasConcurrenceAuthor	David Davis ⓘ Joseph P. Bradley ⓘ Nathan Clifford ⓘ Noah Haynes Swayne ⓘ Samuel Freeman Miller ⓘ Ward Hunt ⓘ William Strong ⓘ
hasCountry	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
hasCourt	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
hasDecisionDate	1876 ⓘ
hasDocketNumber	No. 89 ⓘ
hasFullCitation	United States v. Cruikshank self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876)
hasHistoricalImpact	contributed to the rise of Jim Crow and racial terror by limiting federal prosecutions ⓘ weakened federal protection of Black citizens in the post-Civil War South ⓘ
hasMajorityAuthor	Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite ⓘ surface form: Morrison R. Waite
hasSeparateOpinionAuthor	Nathan Clifford ⓘ
hasSubjectArea	civil rights law ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ
hasVote	9–0 ⓘ
hasYearOfEvent	1873 ⓘ
held	The Fifteenth Amendment does not give the federal government general power to punish all interference with voting rights ⓘ The Fourteenth Amendment restrains only state action, not the actions of private individuals ⓘ The federal government could not use the Enforcement Act of 1870 to prosecute purely private conspiracies to violate civil rights absent state involvement ⓘ The right to assemble is protected from federal interference by the First Amendment but is not created by the Constitution ⓘ The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution and the Second Amendment restricts only the federal government ⓘ
involvesDefendant	Other white paramilitary members ⓘ William J. Cruikshank ⓘ
involvesLocation	Colfax, Louisiana ⓘ
involvesPlaintiff	United States government ⓘ
involvesState	Louisiana ⓘ
involvesVictims	African American freedmen ⓘ
isConsidered	a foundational case for the state action doctrine ⓘ a major setback for Reconstruction civil rights enforcement ⓘ
limited	federal power to protect African Americans from private racial violence ⓘ scope of the Enforcement Acts ⓘ
precededBy	Slaughter-House Cases ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Colfax massacre → relatedCourtCase → United States v. Cruikshank ⓘ

Petition Clause → citedInCase → United States v. Cruikshank ⓘ

Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite → presidedOver → United States v. Cruikshank ⓘ

subject surface form: Morrison R. Waite

United States v. Cruikshank → hasFullCitation → United States v. Cruikshank self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876)

Colfax, Louisiana → followedBy → United States v. Cruikshank ⓘ

subject surface form: Colfax massacre