ABSTRACT
In the famous Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 US 36, Justice Samuel F. Miller wrote the opinion for the five–four majority, holding that the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution had to be considered in light of the original purpose of its framers—to guarantee the freedom of former black slaves. The Slaughterhouse Cases combined three suits involving a Louisiana law that regulated the Crescent City Live-Stock Landing and Slaughtering Company and required that all slaughtering of animals be done at the New Orleans facility. The slaughterhouse laws enraged butchers who had historically slaughtered animals on their own property and then moved the carcasses. Various butchers filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the legislation, arguing that they were protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Slaughterhouse Cases have historically been viewed as an example of the Supreme Court narrowing the scope of the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
