Barron v. Baltimore
Barron v. Baltimore | |
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Court membership | |
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Case opinion | |
Majority | Marshall, joined by unanimous |
Superseded by | |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV[1] |
Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243 (1833), is a
Background
The city of
Decision
The Supreme Court heard arguments on the case on February 8 and 11 and decided on February 16, 1833.[2] It held that the Bill of Rights, such as the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of just compensation for takings of private property for public use, are restrictions on the federal government alone. Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Marshall held that the first ten "amendments contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the State governments. This court cannot so apply them."
To demonstrate that Constitutional limits did not apply to states unless expressly stated, Marshall used the example of Article I, Sections 9 and 10:
The third clause (of Section 9), for example, declares that "no bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed." No language can be more general; yet the demonstration is complete that it applies solely to the government of the United States.... the succeeding section, the avowed purpose of which is to restrain state legislation... declares that "no state shall pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law.” This provision, then, of the ninth section, however comprehensive its language, contains no restriction on state legislation.
Aftermath
The case was particularly important in terms of American government because it stated that the Bill of Rights did not restrict the state governments.[3]
The decision was initially ignored by the growing abolitionist movement, some of whom maintained that Congress could constitutionally abolish slavery, under the Bill of Rights. The case was largely unknown in the 1860s; during a debate in Congress on the Fourteenth Amendment, Congressman John Bingham had to read part of Marshall's opinion aloud to the Senate.[4]
Later Supreme Court rulings would return to Barron to reaffirm its central holding, most notably in
References
- ^ Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925).
- ^ "DATES OF SUPREME COURT DECISIONS AND ARGUMENTS. UNITED STATES REPORTS. VOLUMES 2 – 107 (1791 – 1882)" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
- ^ Cortner, Richard C. 2006. "Barron v. Baltimore". Federalism in America: An Encyclopedia
- SSRN 1538862
General references
- Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer Of A Nation, New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1996.
- Edward C. Papenfuse, Outline, Notes and Documents Concerning Barron v Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243, http://mdhistory.net/msaref06/barron/html/index.html
External links
- Works related to Barron v. Baltimore at Wikisource
- Text of Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243 (1833) is available from: Cornell Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist Oyez (oral argument audio)
- Original Maryland lower court documents with outline courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, http://mdsa.net