Slaughterhouse Cases

Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873) was the U.S. Supreme Court decision in a consolidation of cases interpreting the privileges or immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court interpreted this clause as protecting the rights people have by virtue of their United States citizenship, and not by virtue of their citizenship of a state. The Court defined the rights of United States citizens narrowly, excluding civil rights. The dissents and modern critics of this decision argue that this narrow interpretation effectively rendered the clause meaningless. 

[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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