Citations 106 U.S. 629 (more) Date decided 1883 | Majority Woods | |
Full case name United States v. R. G. Harris, et al. Similar Apprendi v New Jersey, United States v Cruikshank, Chimel v California, Katz v United States, Civil Rights Cases | ||
United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883), sometimes referred to as the Ku Klux Case, was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to penalize crimes such as assault and murder. It declared that the local governments have the power to penalize these crimes.
In the specific case, four men were removed from a Crockett County, Tennessee 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 action, not to state inaction.