Fairchild v. Hughes
Fairchild v. Hughes | |
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Court membership | |
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Case opinion | |
Majority | Brandeis, joined by unanimous |
Laws applied | |
Case or Controversy Clause, U.S. Const. Art. III |
Fairchild v. Hughes, 258 U.S. 126 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a general citizen, in a state that already had women's suffrage, lacked standing to challenge the validity of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.[1] A companion case, Leser v. Garnett, upheld the ratification.[2][3][4]
Background
In 1919, the United States Congress proposed a Constitutional amendment reading: "Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." "Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." By July 1920, thirty-five states had ratified the proposal, with only one additional state needed for the Amendment to be adopted.
On July 7, 1920,
Opinion of the Court
In February, the Court announced a unanimous decision authored by Associate Justice Louis Brandeis, concluding that Fairchild, as a private citizen, lacked standing to challenge the amendment's ratification under the limitations of the Case or Controversy Clause of Article III.[1][6] On the same day, the Court also decided a companion case, Leser v. Garnett which upheld the Amendment's ratification process on the merits.
The Fairchild decision marked a departure from prior doctrine, which had allowed any citizen to sue to preserve a public right.[7]
Subsequent developments
This case is often seen as one of two cases, along with
See also
References
- ^ a b Fairchild v. Hughes, 258 U.S. 126 (1922).
- ISBN 9781851094288. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 9780873953306. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ISBN 9781576072806. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ McGovney, Dudley Odell; Howard, Pendleton (1955). Cases on constitutional law. Bobbs-Merrill. p. 71. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ a b Wroth, Lawrence Counselman (1921). The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine: Published in the Interest of the University and the Alumni. The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association. p. 20. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ The Metaphor of Standing and the Problem of Self-Governance, by Steven L. Winter, 40 Stan. L. Rev. 1371, July, 1988.
- ISBN 9780472088683. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- JSTOR 1331986.
External links
- Text of Fairchild v. Hughes, 258 U.S. 126 (1922) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist