Waite Court: Difference between revisions

The Waite Court presided over the end of the [[Reconstruction Era]], and the start of the [[Gilded Age]]. It also played an important role induring the constitutional crisis that arose following the [[1876 United States presidential election, 1876|1876 presidential election]], as five of its members served on the [[Electoral Commission (United States)|Electoral Commission]] that was[[United States Congress|Congress]] created to settle the contesteddispute election.over Duringwho the Waite's tenure, the jurisdiction of the federal courts was expanded bywon the [[JurisdictionElectoral andCollege Removal(United ActStates)|Electoral of 1875College]], which gave federal courts full jurisdiction over [[Federal-question jurisdiction|federal questions]]vote.

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*''[[United States v. Reese]]'' (1875): In a 7-27–2 decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court held that the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] does not prevent states from using ostensibly race-neutral limitations on voting rights such as [[poll tax]]es, [[grandfather clause]]s, and [[literacy test]]s. The decision played a major role in allowing states to [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|effectively disenfranchise]] [[African-Americans]].

*''[[United States v. Cruikshank]]'' (1875): In a 5-49–0 decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court overturned indictments arising from the [[Colfax massacre]]. The court held that the [[Due Process Clause]] and the [[Equal Protection Clause]] only apply to state action, and that the Fourteenth Amendment had not [[incorporation of the Bill of Rights|incorporated]] the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First]] or [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second]] amendments to apply to the states. The decision was a major blow to the power of the [[Enforcement Acts]] and the federal government's ability to protect the rights of [[African-American]]s in the [[Southern United States|South]]. Later decisions, including ''[[Gitlow v. New York]]'' (1925), would incorporate most of the Bill of Rights to apply to states.

*''[[Reynolds v. United States]]'' (1878): In a decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court upheld the conviction of [[George Reynolds (Mormon)|George Reynolds]]. Reynolds, a member of the [[Thethe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]], had been convicted of [[bigamy]] under the [[Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act]]. The court held that the banning of bigamy did not conflict with the [[Establishment Clause]].

*''[[Strauder v. West Virginia]]'' (1880): In a 7-27–2 decision delivered by Justice Strong, the court held that the [[Equal Protection Clause]] bans exclusionary policies that lead to [[All-white jury|all-white juries]]. The decision overturned the conviction of Taylor Strauder, an African-American convicted of murder in West Virginia by an all-white jury. ''Strauder'' was the first time that the Court reversed a state criminal conviction for a violation of a [[United States constitutional criminal procedure|constitutional provision concerning criminal procedure]].<ref>Michael J. Klarman, ''The Racial Origins of Modern Criminal Procedure'', 99 {{smallcaps|Mich. L. Rev.}} 48 (2000).</ref>

*The ''[[Civil Rights Cases]]'' (1883): In an 8-18–1 decision delivered by Justice Bradley, the court struck down part of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1875]], holding that the Equal Protection Clause and the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] do not protect against racial discrimination by private actors. The decision has not been overturned, and most future legislation against private discrimination (such as the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]) was passed on the basis of the [[Commerce Clause]].

*''[[Elk v. Wilkins]]'' (1884): In a 7-27–2 decision delivered by Justice Gray, the court held that the [[Citizenship Clause]] does not automatically grant citizenship to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]s born on [[Indian reservation]]s. The case was effectively overruled by the passage of the [[Indian Citizenship Act]] in 1924.

*''[[The Telephone Cases]]'' (1888): In a series of court cases related to the [[invention of the telephone]], the court upheld [[Alexander Graham Bell]]'s patents against the claims of [[Western Union]]. The court split, 4-34–3, on the ruling, and Chief Justice Waite delivered the majority opinion.

The Waite Court confronted constitutional questions arising from the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Reconstruction, the expansion of the federal government following the Civil War, and the emergence of a national economy linked together by railroads.<ref name="steph">{{cite book|last1=Stephenson|first1=D. Grier|title=The Waite Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy|date=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=xi-xiii|isbn=9781576078297|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-59Mj6m0dMC&dqq=%22waite+court%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdateaccess-date=7 March 2016}}</ref> The Waite Court issued several major decisions, including ''Cruikshank'', that denied the federal government the power to protect the civil rights of African Americans.<ref name="davis">{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Abraham L.|title=The Supreme Court, Race, and Civil Rights: From Marshall to Rehnquist|date=25 July 1995|publisher=SAGE Publications|pages=17–18|isbn=9781452263793|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ovVyAwAAQBAJ&dqq=%22waite+court%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdateaccess-date=7 March 2016}}</ref> However, historian [[Michael Les Benedict]] notes that the civil rights decision were made during the era of [[dual federalism]], and the Waite Court was sincerely concerned with maintaining the balance of power between the federal government and state governments.<ref name="benedict">{{cite journal|last1=Benedict|first1=Michael Les|title=Preserving Federalism: Reconstruction and the Waite Court|journal=The Supreme Court Review|date=1978|volume=1978|pages=41–44|doi=10.1086/scr.1978.3109529|jstor=3109529|s2cid=147451330}}</ref> While the Waite Court struck down civil rights laws, it upheld many economic regulations, in contrast with the Fuller Court.<ref name="benedict2">{{cite journal|last1=Benedict|first1=Michael Les|title=New Perspectives on the Waite Court|journal=Tulsa Law Review|date=2011|volume=47|issue=1|pages=112–113|url=http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2766&context=tlr|accessdateaccess-date=7 March 2016}}</ref>

* {{cite book |last=Frank |first=John P. |editor-last=Friedman |editor-first=Leon |editor2-last=Israel |editor2-first=Fred L. |title=The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions |publisher=[[Chelsea House]] Publishers |year=1995 |isbn=0-7910-1377-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/justicesofunited0000unse }}

* {{cite book |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Kermit L. |editor2-last=Ely, Jr. |editor2-first=James W. Jr. |editor3-last=Grossman |editor3-first=Joel B. |title=The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2nd |isbn=9780195176612}}

* {{cite book |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Kermit L. |editor2-last=Ely, Jr. |editor2-first=James W. Jr. |title=The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0195379396}}

* {{cite book |last1=Irons |first1=Peter |title=A People's History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution |url=https://archive.org/details/peopleshistoryof00iron_0 |url-access=registration |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781101503133 |edition=Revised}}

* {{cite book |last1=Lane |first1=Charles |title=The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction |url=https://archive.org/details/dayfreedomdiedco00lane |url-access=registration |date=2008 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |isbn=9781429936781}}

* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Fenton S. |author2=Goehlert, Robert U. |title=The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography |publisher=Congressional Quarterly Books |year=1990 |isbn=0-87187-554-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/ussupremecourtbi0000mart }}

* {{cite journal|last= Pope |first=James Gray | title = Snubbed landmark: Why ''United States v. Cruikshank'' (1876) belongs at the heart of the American constitutional canon | journal = [[Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review]] | volume = 49 | issue = 2 | pages = 385–447 | publisher = [[Harvard Law School]] | date = Spring 2014 | url = http://harvardcrcl.org/archive/ | ref = harv | postscript = .}} [http://harvardcrcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/385_Pope.pdf Pdf]

* {{cite book |last1=Schwarz |first1=Bernard |title=A History of the Supreme Court |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195093872 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsupreme00schw_0 }}

* {{cite book |editor1-last=Tomlins |editor1-first=Christopher |title=The United States Supreme Court: The Pursuit of Justice |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |date=2005 |isbn=978-0618329694 |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatessupr00toml }}

* {{cite book |last=Urofsky |first=Melvin I. |title=The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher=Garland Publishing |year=1994 |isbn=0-8153-1176-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/supremecourtjust00melv }}

* {{cite book|last1=White|first1=Richard|authorlinkauthor-link = Richard White (historian)|title=The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age: 1865–1896|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780190619060}}