7. 十四修正案 1994年10月 B 9104
TheFourteenthAmendmenttotheUnitedStatesConstitution, ratifiedin 1868, prohibitsstategovernmentsfromdenyingcitizenstheequalprotectionofthelaws. Althoughpreciselywhattheframersoftheamendmentmeantbythisequalprotectionclauseremainsunclear, allinterpretersagreethattheframersimmediateobjectivewastoprovideaconstitutionalwarrantfortheCivilRightsActof 1866, whichguaranteedthecitizenshipofallpersonsbornintheUnitedStatesandsubjecttoUnitedStatesjurisdiction. Thisdeclaration, whichwasechoedinthetextoftheFourteenthAmendment, wasdesignedprimarilytocountertheSupremeCourtsrulinginDredScottv. SandfordthatBlackpeopleintheUnitedStatescouldbedeniedcitizenship. TheactwasvetoedbyPresidentAndrewJohnson, whoarguedthattheThirteenthAmendment, whichabolishedslavery, didnotprovideCongresswiththeauthoritytoextendcitizenshipandequalprotectiontothefreedslaves. AlthoughCongresspromptlyoverrodeJohnsonsveto, supportersoftheactsoughttoensureitsconstitutionalfoundationswiththepassageoftheFourteenthAmendment.
ThebroadlanguageoftheamendmentstronglysuggeststhatitsframerswereproposingtowriteintotheConstitutionnotalaundrylistofspecificcivilrightsbutaprincipleofequalcitizenshipthatforbidsorganizedsocietyfromtreatinganyindividualasamemberofaninferiorclass. Yetforthefirsteightdecadesoftheamendmentsexistence, theSupremeCourtsinterpretationoftheamendmentbetrayedthisidealofequality. IntheCivilRightsCasesof 1883, forexample, theCourtinventedthestateactionlimitation, whichassertsthatprivatedecisionsbyownersofpublicaccommodationsandothercommercialbusinessestosegregatetheirfacilitiesareinsulatedfromthereachoftheFourteenthAmendmentsguaranteeofequalprotectionunderthelaw.
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