The Slaughter-House Cases

Dust off the constitutional law books and you will find a relic called the Slaughter-House Cases. The decision is obscure and 126 years old. But so long as it remains on the books, it endangers some of our most vital liberties and leaves others-especially the right to earn an honest living--completely unprotected.

This site commemorates this inauspicious anniversary. We invite you to check it out to learn more about the decision, its ramifications, and the pressing need to remove it from the case books. The site contains introductory articles, the decision itself, a bibliography of sources on the case, and information about a writing contest the Institute is sponsoring for law students about Slaughter-House.

One of the long-term litigation goals of the Institute is to overturn the U. S. Supreme Court's Slaughter-House decision and once again restore economic liberty as a fundamental constitutional right.

We hope you find the information contained on the website useful. And we welcome your comments and thoughts.