''United States v. Harris'', 106 U.S. 629 (1883), or the ''Ku Klux Kase'', was a case in which the
US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
held that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to penalize crimes such as assault and murder in most circumstances.
[.] 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
Crockett County is located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,911. Its county seat is Alamo. Crockett County is included in the Jackson, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Crockett County was f ...
, 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.
See also
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 106
This is a list of cases reported in volume 106 of ''United States Reports'', decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1882 and 1883.
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 106 U.S.
The Supreme Court is establi ...
*''
United States v. Morrison''
References
Further reading
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External links
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United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Waite Court
Criminal cases in the Waite Court
United States equal protection case law
United States federal criminal case law
1883 in United States case law
1883 in Tennessee
Legal history of Tennessee
Crockett County, Tennessee
Ku Klux Klan
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