United States v. Cruikshank Guts Federal Civil Rights Enforcement

The Supreme Court unanimously overturns the federal convictions of Colfax Massacre perpetrators in United States v. Cruikshank, ruling that the Bill of Rights does not limit private actors or state governments despite the Fourteenth Amendment—effectively destroying federal power to protect Black Americans from racial terrorism. The case arises from the 1873 Colfax Massacre where armed whites killed more than 150 African Americans. Federal prosecutors charged several perpetrators under the Enforcement Act of 1870, which prohibited conspiracies to deprive anyone of constitutional rights. The Court sides with defendants, holding that First and Second Amendment rights apply only to federal government actions, not states or private citizens—and that Fourteenth Amendment due process and equal protection protections apply only to state action, not individual conduct.

The Court’s reasoning proves catastrophic for civil rights enforcement. Congress created the Enforcement Acts to give the President authority to enforce freedpeople’s constitutional rights, but the Court declares the Acts unconstitutional because Fourteenth Amendment provisions “only apply when states are trying to take away these rights and not when it is individuals against other individuals.” This establishes the “State Action Doctrine”—a legal framework that will cripple civil rights enforcement for nearly a century. Many historians describe Cruikshank as “a watershed moment in the demise of Reconstruction,” opening the door to further violence against African Americans without fear of federal prosecution.

The decision’s practical effect is immediate and devastating. No one is punished for the Colfax Massacre despite 150 murders. After 1875, responsibility for prosecuting racial and political crimes falls to state courts—and as Reconstruction ends, Southern courts and elected officials increasingly favor white supremacy and turn a blind eye to Klan-style violence. The Cruikshank ruling gives a “green light to acts of terror wherever local officials could not or would not enforce the law.” Expanded suffrage of the Reconstruction era collapses, and efforts to protect Black voting rights are not federally recognized until the Voting Rights Act of 1965—89 years later. The decision remains partially in effect until overturned by De Jonge v. Oregon (1937) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), demonstrating how Supreme Court sabotage of civil rights can persist across generations.