Today in Supreme Court History: February 16, 1833

2/16/1833: Barron v. City of Baltimore decided.

Comments

[DaivdBehar]

This idiot court says, judicial review of laws is OK. When a citizen is damaged by a government, it says, no jurisdiction. It is a little biased.

[Michael Ejercito]

Under Barron's logic, the Constitution does not forbid states from establishing state churches, outlawing handguns, or executing people without trial.

[F.D. Wolf]

Under Barron's logic, the states were sovereign entities subject only to the few restrictions placed upon them by the federal constitution, explicitly listed in Article I, sec. 9.

Many states did have established churches; Massachusetts became the last state to disestablish its church in 1833, the same year as Barron. And certainly no one would have questioned a state's right to ban handguns, though that would have been politically unthinkable to early Americans. And, of course, all the states had their own constitutions, some of which provided broader protections than the federal constitution.

[F.D. Wolf]

Correction: Article I, sec. 10.