This is the Kator Daily Podcast for Saturday, September 23, 2003.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The Supreme Court has an opportunity to undo a long-standing error.

The court long ago gutted the privileges or immunity clause of the 14th Amendment.

A new case the High Court is considering could allow one woman to pursue her vocational calling while also protecting

all Americans trying to earn an honest living.

Cato's Anastasia Bowdoin comments.

I suppose we have to start with a history lesson. The 14th Amendment

contained several phrases, the one that we're focused on here today, the privileges or immunities clause, what was the plain meaning of that clause at the time it was ratified?

Well, it was intended to mean fundamental rights,

those rights that had existed at English common law,

as well as the substantive rights that were in the Civil Rights Act at the time.

So following the Civil War, Congress wanted to grant Friedman,

you know, strong protections for their civil liberties.

So they started by passing the Civil Rights Act.

The Civil Rights Act was vetoed by President Johnson on the theory that it was beyond Congress's authority to pass.

Luckily, Congress was able to surmount that veto, but in order to stave off any

objections about the acts constitutionality in the future,

Congress passed the 14th Amendment and they included this phrase, privileges or immunities

and it was clearly meant to protect people and their fundamental rights as well as

those rights in the Civil Rights Act and so that's where we we get a little bit

more clarity on what that nowadays archaic term means.

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