Supreme Court

When SCOTUS Did Lasting Damage to the Bill of Rights

Plus: The Alito retirement rumors keep swirling.

Damon Root | 4.14.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Midjourney)

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued many deplorable decisions throughout its history. Some of them—such as Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) or Korematsu v. United States (1944)—are so infamous that their very names have become synonymous with the miscarriage of justice.

But other judicial travesties are less well-known. Take the case of United States v. Cruikshank (1876). Although Cruikshank is mostly forgotten today outside of legal and scholarly circles, its negative impact was still felt in American law in the early 21st century.

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The Cruikshank case originated with a truly appalling event, the Colfax massacre, which the historian Eric Foner has called "the single bloodiest act of carnage in all of Reconstruction." It occurred 153 years ago yesterday.

After the 1872 statewide elections in Louisiana, rival Democratic and Republican factions each laid claim to certain local political offices. In Grant Parish, the political fighting turned violent when an armed white mob linked to the local Democrats launched an attack on the courthouse in the town of Colfax, where hundreds of black supporters of the local Republicans, including members of a black militia, had gathered. After the initial attack proved........

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