Frasher v. State

3 Tex. Ct. App. 263
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 1, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 3 Tex. Ct. App. 263 (Frasher v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frasher v. State, 3 Tex. Ct. App. 263 (Tex. Ct. App. 1877).

Opinion

Ector, P. J.

The indictment in this case charges that on March 18, A. D. 1875, in the county of Gregg and state aforesaid, one Charles Frasher, late of the said county, be[265]*265ing then and there a white man, did then and there unlawfully, knowingly, and feloniously marry a negro, contrary to the form of the statute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state.

The indictment is based upon article 386 of our Criminal Code (Pasc. Dig., art. 2016), which reads as follows:

“ Art. 2016. If any white person shall, within this state, knowingly marry a negro, or a person of mixed blood descended from negro ancestry to the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person, or, having so married in or out of the state, shall continue within this state to cohabit with such negro or such descendant of a negro, he or she shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years.”

The defendant was tried at the July term, 1877, of the District Court of Gregg County, and was convicted, and his punishment assessed at four years’ confinement in the penitentiary.

The counsel for the defendant insists that the act of 1858, under which this prosecution was had, is in conflict with the 14th and 15th amendments of the Constitution of the United States and the 1st section of the Civil Eights Bill; that the statute prohibiting such marriages was passed in the interest of slavery, before that institution was abolished, and when the negro was not a citizen of the United States ; and that it cannot be enforced, because it prescribes a penalty to be inflicted upon the white person alone.

The first question, then, presented for the consideration of this court is whether the positions assumed, as above stated, by the defendant’s counsel, or any one of them, are correct. We are not unmindful of the importance of the questions involved, and have given them our most careful and thoughtful consideration. No question more important in its consequences, or more profoundly interesting to the [266]*266people of this country, has ever been before this court. The 1st and 5th sections of the 14th amendment to the Constitution are in these words :

“ Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. ”
“Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article. ”

XVth Amendment: “1. The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

“ 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

It is evident that the 15th amendment has no application or bearing whatever upon the question at issue.

The 14th amendment contains four separate and distinct propositions. First, it confers the right of citizenship upon all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and who are subj ect to the jurisdiction thereof; second, it declares that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; third, it prohibits any state from depriving any citizen of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; fourth, it provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.

In placing a construction upon a constitution, or any clause or part thereof, a court should look to the history of the times, and examine the state of things existing when [267]*267the constitution or any part thereof was framed and adopted, to ascertain the old law, the mischief, and the remedy. The court should also look to the nature and objects of the particular powers, duties, and rights in question, with all the lights and aids of contemporary history, and give to the words of each provision just such operation and force, consistent with their legitimate meaning, as will fairly secure the end proposed. Kendall v. The United States, 12 Pet. 524; Prigg v. The Commonwealth, 16 Pet. 539.

In the Slaughter-house Cases the Supreme Court of the United States, in referring to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments of the Constitution, say: “ An examination of the history of the causes which led to the adoption of those amendments, and of the amendments themselves, demonstrates that the main purpose of all the three last amendments was the freedom of the African race, the security and perpetuation of that freedom, and their protection from the oppression of the white men who had formerly held them in slavery. In giving construction to any of these articles it is necessary to keep this main purpose in view, though the letter and spirit of these articles must apply to cases coming within their purview, whether the party concerned be of African descent or not.’’

We will now proceed briefly to construe the 1st section of the 14th amendment. The first clause of this amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” This clause declares and determines who are citizens of the United States, and how their citizenship is created. Before its enactment there had been much diversity of opinion among jurists and statesmen whether there was any citizenship independent of that of state citizenship, and, if any existed, as to the manner in which it originated. To remove this difficulty, primarily, and to establish a clear [268]*268nnd comprehensive definition of citizenship, and to declare what should constitute citizenship of the United States, and also citizenship of a state, the first clause of the 1st section was framed.

It clearly recognizes the distinction between citizenship of the United States and citizenship of a state. A person must reside within a state to make him a citizen of it. He must be born or naturalized in the United States to be a citizen of the Union. The Supreme Court of the United States, in construing this clause, say: “ That its main purpose was to establish the citizenship of the negro can admit of no doubt. The phrase ‘ subject to its jurisdiction ’ was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign states, born within the United States.” 16 Wall. 36.

The language of the second clause of the section under consideration is : No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

The first mention of the words “ privileges or immunities ” is found in the fourth of the articles of the old Confederation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 Tex. Ct. App. 263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frasher-v-state-texapp-1877.