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Constricting The Law Of Freedom: Justice Miller, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Slaughter-House Cases, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Slaughter-House Cases are simultaneously unremarkable and extraordinary. They are unremarkable because the matter at issue -- whether butchers can be required to ply their trade at a central, state-franchised facility -- has long since ceased to be a matter of concern. They are extraordinary because in spite of the fact that three of the Court's significant legal conclusions have been rejected and “everyone” agrees the Court incorrectly interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the conclusion that the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment had no meaningful place in our constitutional scheme continues to live on. Even those …