United States v. Cruikshank

In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not prosecute individuals for violating citizens' rights if those rights were not explicitly incorporated into state law. This decision stemmed from an 1873 attack on Black freedmen in Colfax, Louisiana, where militia members were indicted under the Enforcement Act of 1870 for infringing upon the freedmen's rights to vote, assemble, and bear arms.1

Chief Justice Morrison Waite stated that the rights protected by the Bill of Rights were distinct from those protected by state governments, and that individuals held different rights as citizens of the United States versus citizens of a particular state. This ruling was later overturned by subsequent Supreme Court decisions, including De Jonge v. Oregon (1937) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010). The Cruikshank decision significantly weakened federal protections for civil rights during the Reconstruction era, contributing to the rise of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation.12