Legal Definitions - Slaughterhouse Cases

The Slaughterhouse Cases refer to a decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1873. It involved a series of cases where the Court interpreted the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court's interpretation of the clause was that it protected the rights of people based on their U.S. citizenship, rather than their citizenship of a specific state. However, the Court defined these rights narrowly and excluded civil rights.

This decision has been criticized by some as rendering the clause meaningless.

For example, if a person is a U.S. citizen, they have the right to vote in federal elections. However, the Slaughterhouse Cases suggest that this right does not extend to state elections.

Overall, the Slaughterhouse Cases limited the scope of the privileges and immunities clause and had a significant impact on civil rights in the United States.