United States v. Reese : In a 7-2 decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court held that the Fifteenth Amendment does not prevent states from using ostensibly race-neutral limitations on voting rights such as poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests. The decision played a major role in allowing states to effectively disenfranchiseAfrican-Americans.
Minor v. Happersett : In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Waite, the court held that the Constitution did not grant women the right to vote. The ruling was effectively overturned by the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
United States v. Cruikshank : In a 5-4 decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court overturned indictments arising from the Colfax massacre. The court held that the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause only apply to state action, and that the Fourteenth Amendment had not incorporated the First or Second amendments to apply to the states. The decision was a major blow to the power of the Enforcement Acts and the federal government's ability to protect the rights of African-Americans in the South. Later decisions, including Gitlow v. New York, would incorporate most of the Bill of Rights to apply to states.
Reynolds v. United States : In a decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court upheld the conviction of George Reynolds. Reynolds, a member of the LDS Church, had been convicted of bigamy under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. The court held that the banning of bigamy did not conflict with the Establishment Clause.
Pennoyer v. Neff : In a decision written by Justice Field, the court held that a state can exert personal jurisdiction over a defendant if the defendant is served notice while physically present in a state.
Strauder v. West Virginia : In a 7-2 decision delivered by Justice Strong, the court held that the Equal Protection Clause bans exclusionary policies that lead to all-white juries. The decision overturned the conviction of Taylor Strauder, an African-American convicted of murder in West Virginia by an all-white jury. Strauder was the first time that the Court reversed a state criminal conviction for a violation of a constitutional provision concerning criminal procedure.
Pace v. Alabama : In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Field, the court upheld Alabama's anti-miscegenation laws. Pace was later overruled by Loving v. Virginia on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause.
The Civil Rights Cases : In an 8-1 decision delivered by Justice Bradley, the court struck down part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, holding that the Equal Protection Clause and the Thirteenth Amendment do not protect against racial discrimination by private actors. The decision has not been overturned, and most future legislation against private discrimination was passed on the basis of the Commerce Clause.
Elk v. Wilkins : In a 7-2 decision delivered by Justice Gray, the court held that the Citizenship Clause does not automatically grant citizenship to Native Americans born on Indian reservations. The case was effectively overruled by the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924.
The Railroad Commission Cases : In a 6-2 decision delivered by Chief Justice Waite, the court upheld state fixation of railroad prices as a permissible exercise of police power. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Minnesota later limited the effect of this ruling.
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois :
Presser v. Illinois : In a decision delivered by Justice Woods, the court affirmed its decision in Cruikshank, saying that the First and Second Amendments do not apply to state governments. The decision overturned the conviction of Herman Presser, a member of Lehr und Wehr Verein, a Chicago-based socialist military organization.
The Telephone Cases : In a series of court cases related to the invention of the telephone, the court upheld Alexander Graham Bell's patents against the claims of Western Union. The court split, 4–3, on the ruling, and Chief Justice Waite delivered the majority opinion.
Judicial philosophy
The Waite Court confronted constitutional questions arising from the Civil War, Reconstruction, the expansion of the federal government following the Civil War, and the emergence of a national economy linked together by railroads. The Waite Court issued several major decisions, including Cruikshank, that denied the federal government the power to protect the civil rights of African Americans. However, historian Michael Les Benedict notes that the civil rights decision were made during the era of dual federalism, and the Waite Court was sincerely concerned with maintaining the balance of power between the federal government and state governments. While the Waite Court struck down civil rights laws, it upheld many economic regulations, in contrast with the Fuller Court.
