Certificate of Division from United States v. Samuel Nichols
9/8/1876
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In the District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Samuel Nichols was charged with “denial of civil rights on account of race or color” after Nichols refused to allow W.H.R. Agee to stay at the Nichols Inn in Jefferson City on May 22, 1876. After determining that United States v. Nichols implicated “difficult and important questions of law,” the district court passed the case to the circuit court, which then issued a certificate of division to the United States Supreme Court.
Five cases (Stanley, Ryan, Nichols, Robinson, and Singleton) were eventually consolidated into the Civil Rights Cases. The Court, with Justice Joseph P. Bradley writing for the majority, held that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional because it sought to regulate individual action, which was appropriately regulated by the state police power and not by the federal government’s authority under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Five cases (Stanley, Ryan, Nichols, Robinson, and Singleton) were eventually consolidated into the Civil Rights Cases. The Court, with Justice Joseph P. Bradley writing for the majority, held that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional because it sought to regulate individual action, which was appropriately regulated by the state police power and not by the federal government’s authority under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Transcript
United States }vs }
Samuel Nichols }
And now at this day comes the District Attorney who prosecutes on behalf of the United States and also comes the said defendant in his own proper person and by his attorneys Mess. Say & Belch, and the demurrer to the indictment herein coming on now to be heard, and the judges of this court being divided in opinion on the point of the validity under the constitution of the United States of the statute under which the said indictment is drawn, viz "An Act to protect all citizens in the civil and legal rights" Approved March 1st, AD 1876 it is ordered on the request of said partiesthaty said point be certified under the seal of this court to the Supreme Court of the United States for its decision, and that the clerk of this court forthwith make out and cetify to the clerk of said Supreme Court a full and complete transcript of the record herein. Ordered further that said defendant Samuel Nichols personall appear before this court on the first day of the next term thereof.
United States
vs
Samuel Nichols
Certificate of Division
Filed Nov. 24, 1876
(signature)
Clerk
This primary source comes from the Records of District Courts of the United States.
Full Citation: Certificate of Division from United States v. Samuel Nichols; 9/8/1876; United States vs. Samuel Nichols; Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/certificate-of-division-from-united-states-v-samuel-nichols, April 19, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.