Litigants: | United States v. Harris |
Decidedate: | January 22 |
Decideyear: | 1883 |
Fullname: | United States v. R. G. Harris, et al. |
Usvol: | 106 |
Uspage: | 629 |
Parallelcitations: | 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. |
Majority: | Woods |
Joinmajority: | Waite, Miller, Field, Bradley, Mathews, Gray, Blatchford |
Dissent: | Harlan (on the question of jurisdiction; no opinion on the merits) |
Lawsapplied: | U.S. Const. Amend. XIV Section 2 of the Third Enforcement Act |
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.
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.