Slaughterhouse Cases - The Slaughterhouse Monopoly, Monopoly As "servitude", Equal Protection, Further Readings

appellants court decision orleans

Appellants

Butchers' Benevolent Association of New Orleans; The Livestock Dealers' and Butchers' Association of New Orleans

Appellees

The Crescent City Live Stock Landing and Slaughter House Company; State of Louisiana

Appellants' Claim

That the state's establishment of a monopoly in stock slaughtering violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Chief Lawyers for Appellants

John Campbell, J. Q. A. Fellows

Chief Lawyer for Appellees

T. J. Durant

Justices for the Court

Salmon Portland Chase, Nathan Clifford, David Davis, Ward Hunt, Samuel Freeman Miller (writing for the Court), William Strong

Justices Dissenting

Joseph P. Bradley, Stephen Johnson Field, Noah Haynes Swayne

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

14 April 1873

Decision

The state of Louisiana was within its regular police powers to protect public health to establish a monopoly slaughterhouse down river from New Orleans.

Significance

Although the court ruled that the state-established slaughterhouse monopoly was legal, it ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment, originally intended to protect the civil rights of freed slaves, also protected other citizens against hostile action by state governments. However,the decision favored the state's own interpretation of when such rights would be violated.

Related Cases

Butcher's Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746 (1884).
Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984).

Sources

West's Encyclopedia of American Law Minneapolis, Minnesota: West Publishing, 1998.

Additional Topics

Slaughterhouse Cases - The Slaughterhouse Monopoly

On 8 March 1869, the state of Louisiana created a 25-year monopoly on livestock slaughtering in the area of New Orleans, including three parishes of the state. The slaughterhouse was to be established down-river from New Orleans, and butchers who wished to slaughter animals would be required to rent space for that purpose at the facility built by the Crescent City Live Stock Landing and Slaughter …

Slaughterhouse Cases - Monopoly As "servitude"

After discussing the history of servitude and slavery, the attorneys for the appellants pointed out that slavery had taken many forms in the past, one of which was to subject individuals in specific areas to special restrictions on their rights, by "enthralling" the land. The attorneys claimed that the act of establishing the state monopoly in slaughtering made three parishes of the state "enthral…

Slaughterhouse Cases - Equal Protection

Equal protection is the constitutional right of all people and all classes of people in the United States to share in the rights and privileges enjoyed by other people and classes of people in similar conditions and circumstances. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution serves as the foundation of the equal protection guarantee and requires that the states treat individuals and groups or clas…

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User Comments

11 months ago

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Walter

over 3 years ago

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