Slaughterhouse+Cases

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 * __Slaughterhouse Cases: 83 U.S. 36 __**[|The Supreme Court Landmark Cases]

The Slaughterhouse cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873), were a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1873. The Slaughterhouse cases were the Court's first interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Slaughterhouse cases were made up of three similar cases: The Louisiana legislature passed a law in 1869 that centralized all slaughterhouse operations in New Orleans to create a corporation. This would:   They did this to restrict dumping of remains and waste in waterways and to create a single place for where animals could be kept and later slaughtered. This law made a legal monopoly that many opposed because it would eliminate independent butchers who were not included in this economical action. The butchers who were eventually going to be shut down hired John A. Campbell, a former Supreme Court Justice (who had retired due to his Confederate implications). They would try to use the newly formed 14th Amendment along with minor help from the 13th and 15th Amendments, which was passed to protect newly freed slaves in the South, and since the language of Section 1 is not racially limited it would play an important role in their case.
 * 1) //The Butchers' Benevolent Association of New Orleans v. The Crescent City Live-Stock Landing and Slaughter-House Company // (Wikipedia)
 * 2) //Paul Esteben, L. Ruch, J. P. Rouede, W. Maylie, S. Firmberg, B. Beaubay, William Fagan, J. D. Broderick, N. Seibel, M. Lannes, J. Gitzinger, J. P. Aycock, D. Verges, The Live-Stock Dealers' and Butchers' Association of New Orleans, and Charles Cavaroc v. The State of Louisiana, ex rel. S. Belden, Attorney-General // (Wikipedia)
 * 3) //The Butchers' Benevolent Association of New Orleans v. The Crescent City Live-Stock Landing and Slaughter-House Company //( Wikipedia)
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">fixed prices for the offloading and maintenance of livestock
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">fixed prices for butchers who want to use the facilities
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">a clause describing the process of collecting unpaid money
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">a provision for a livestock inspector to ascertain animal health and fitness

They had previously brought their case to lower courts, who had found in favor of the new corporation in all cases. Later they appealed to the Supreme Court six times. Their claims were based on the "due process, privileges or immunities and equal protection clauses found in the 14th Amendment". The court membership consisted of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, Associate Justices Nathan Clifford, Noah H. Swayne, Samuel F. Miller, David Davis, Stephen J. Field, William Strong Joseph P. Bradley, and Ward Hunt. The holding of this case was made on April 14, 1873 and the majority of the opinions agreed with the lower courts by allowing the centralization of slaughterhouses in New Orleans. This again stated that privileges and immunities of citizenship of the U.S. were to be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment not privileges and immunities of citizenship of a state. There were five justices who agreed with the lower courts and four who belived that it was a monopoly. The majority of justices interpreted the 14th Amendment as only being applied to national citizenship and not state. This lead to the finding that the butcher's rights under the 14th Amendment had not been violated and there for caused the outcome that occured. Even though the butchers had lost in court, these cases were some of the first examples as to how the new 14th Amendment could be used not just for freed slaves and the maintaining of their rights, but for civil rights pertaining to all people of all races in the United States.

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">This event itself was made possible by many things most of which we studied this year. The most obvious one was the creation of the 14th Amendment which was the main piece of support for the butchers' case. Another was the Civil War which is what ended slavery (allowing the creation of the 14th Amendment. The Civil War also allowed John A. Campbell to become their attorny since he was disallowed to be a Justice due to his Confederate loyalties. In the begining of the year we learned about the balance of power which included the Supreme Court and all we learned about that judicial institution. These are all things of significants that made these series of cases remotely possible.

This case also shows America's drive towards a better direction. It shows how the end of slavery will benefit everybody, by using the 14th Amendment for the preservation of civil rights of all people. Since this event affected New Orleans (a Southern state) the use of such an Amendment with an attorny of known political and social loyalties that were used in order to defend a case that was seemingly unconnectable to their defence was unheard of. Even thought the abilities of the Amendment were limited to nation and not state, it was still widely accepted despite its suposed racial use.

The 14th Amendment we have today is what it is because of the help this and many other cases gave by showing that national laws should overrule state acceptance of those laws. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the decision to centralize slaughterhouses in the New Orleans region of the state of Louisiana because of the limited power that the 14th Amendment had in states. To make a more perfect union the 14th Amendment was revised in order to enforce civil rights among all states.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: center;">**__Works Cited__**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">McBride, Alex. "The Supreme Court . The First Hundred Years . Landmark Cases . Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) |." //PBS//. N.p., Dec. 2006. Web. 05 June 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_slaughterhouse.html>.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"Slaughter-House Cases -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. MediaWiki, 30 May 2009. Web. 05 June 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse_Cases>.
 * "SLAUGHTERHOUSE CASES, 83 U. S. 36 (1872) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez." //US Supreme Court Cases & Opinions from Justia & US Court Forms & Oyez//. Justia.com, n.d. Web. 05 June 2009. [].
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"Slaughterhouse Cases." //Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School//. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 05 June 2009. <http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0083_0036_ZS.html>.