Supreme Court Sound Bites

Sound Bite: Facts of the case. Herman Presser, the plaintiff in error, was indicted on September 24, 1879, in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Illinois.   The indictment charged in substance, that Presser, on September 24, 1879, in the County of Cook, in the State of Illinois, "did unlawfully belong to, and did parade[...]

Sound Bite: The provision in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, that "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," is a limitation only on the power of Congress and the national government, and not of the states. The provision in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, that "The[...]

Sound Bite: The provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, that "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States," does not prevent a state from passing such laws to regulate the privileges and immunities of its own citizens, as do not[...]

Sound Bite: Holding A state statute providing that all able-bodied male citizens of the state between eighteen and forty-five, except those exempted, shall be subject to military duty, and shall be enrolled and designated as the state militia. And prohibiting all bodies of men, other than the regularly organized volunteer militia of the state, and[...]