Balkinization  

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Congressional Amnesty in Virginia in 1868

Gerard N. Magliocca

One set of evidence that cuts against the argument that Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment requires an Act of Congress for enforcement is that Congress gave nearly 2,000 people amnesty in 1868 before there was any federal enforcement statute. This occurred immediately before the 14th Amendment came into effect (Act of June 25, 1868, ch. 83, 15 Stat. 361-67) and immediately after in several statutes. One of them, the Act of July 20, 1868, ch. 187, 15 Stat. 386-89, is especially interesting because some of the waivers went to citizens and officeholders in Virginia.

According to Chief Justice Chase's logic in Griffin's Case, though, this was an impossibility or a mistake. No Act of Congress enforced Section Three in Virginia in 1868. So why did these people need amnesty? What disability was being removed from them? Worse still, the Chief Justice said nothing about this point in his Griffin's Case opinion. Maybe the Act of July 20, 1868 was not brought to his attention. Or maybe he just decided to ignore something that complicated his analysis.

Happy New Year! More coming tomorrow.


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