Today in Supreme Court History: July 28, 1880

7/28/1880: San Francisco prohibits operation of laundires in wood buildings, "without having first obtained the consent of the board of supervisors." The Supreme Court found this ordinance unconstitutional in Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886).

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

"The Supreme Court found this ordinance unconstitutional . . . "

Not true. They never reached that question.

[Dilan Esper]

Yick Wo is one of the greatest missed opportunities in American legal history. We could have had a completely different and more protective jurisprudence of selective prosecution and enforcement had it been taken seriously.

[Syd Henderson]

They found the administration violated people's constitutional rights, which established an important precedent which I wish they'd considered in Plessy v. Ferguson.

[Angela Evans]

Since accepting the case file, the judge assigned to settle the case has not carefully studied the file, so he has not been able to consider all the evidence sent by the investigating agency and the Procuracy, including procedural errors. omission, confusion about the content. taming io