## Facts

- The United States indicted John Hall, Jr., William Pettigrew, and others under § 6 of the Enforcement Act of May 31, 1870.
- Count one alleged the defendants conspired to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate named citizens to prevent their free exercise of freedom of speech.
- Count two alleged the defendants conspired to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate named citizens to prevent their free exercise of the right to peaceably assemble.
- Defendants demurred, arguing (1) the charged conduct did not violate any right secured by the U.S. Constitution, (2) it did not violate any federal statute, and (3) each count improperly charged multiple distinct offenses.
- The court addressed the demurrer at the pretrial stage to determine whether the indictment stated a federal offense under a constitutional statute.

## Issues

1. Whether freedom of speech and the right peaceably to assemble are privileges or immunities of United States citizenship secured by the Constitution within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Whether Congress, under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Enforcement Act of 1870, may criminalize conspiracies by private persons to interfere with those rights.
3. Whether each count was defective for duplicity by charging more than one offense.

## Decision

- The court held that freedom of speech and the right peaceably to assemble are privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States secured by the Constitution.
- The court held Congress has power to protect such rights through appropriate legislation, and that § 6 of the Enforcement Act of 1870 applied to the charged conduct.
- The court rejected the argument that the statute could reach only state action and accepted its application to private conspiracies as charged.
- The court rejected the duplicity challenge, treating each count as charging a single conspiracy targeting a single category of constitutional right.
- The demurrer was overruled, leaving the indictment in place.

## Legal Principles

- Before the Fourteenth Amendment, the Bill of Rights primarily restrained the federal government and did not authorize Congress to protect individuals in a state against interference with speech, press, religion, or assembly.
- The Fourteenth Amendment defined national citizenship independently of state citizenship and secured privileges or immunities of United States citizenship against abridgment.
- Rights enumerated in the first eight amendments, including freedom of speech and peaceable assembly, qualify as privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States secured by the Constitution.
- Congress may enforce the Fourteenth Amendment by appropriate legislation, including criminal statutes aimed at conspiracies to injure or intimidate citizens in exercising constitutional privileges or immunities.
- An indictment alleging a single conspiracy to interfere with a specified constitutional right is not defective merely because it identifies multiple intended victims.

## Conclusion

The court sustained a federal indictment under the Enforcement Act of 1870 by holding that freedom of speech and peaceable assembly are Fourteenth Amendment privileges or immunities and that Congress may punish private conspiracies intended to suppress those rights.


United States v. Hall, 26 F. Cas. 79 (C.C.S.D. Ala. 1871)