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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Slaughterhouse Cases
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A quick definition of Slaughterhouse Cases:
The Slaughterhouse Cases were a group of legal cases that went to the US Supreme Court in 1873. The Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution only protected the rights of people who were US citizens, not the rights of people who were citizens of a particular state. The Court also said that the rights of US citizens were limited and did not include civil rights. Some people disagreed with this decision and said that it made the Fourteenth Amendment meaningless.
A more thorough explanation:
The Slaughterhouse Cases refer to a decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1873. It involved a series of cases where the Court interpreted the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Court's interpretation of the clause was that it protected the rights of people based on their U.S. citizenship, rather than their citizenship of a specific state. However, the Court defined these rights narrowly and excluded civil rights.
This decision has been criticized by some as rendering the clause meaningless.
For example, if a person is a U.S. citizen, they have the right to vote in federal elections. However, the Slaughterhouse Cases suggest that this right does not extend to state elections.
Overall, the Slaughterhouse Cases limited the scope of the privileges and immunities clause and had a significant impact on civil rights in the United States.