460 HASTINGS—POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. [June 19, 
(2) to prevent the same persons bearing arms; (3) to deprive such 
persons of their liberty without due process of law; (4) to deprive 
them of the equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the se- 
curity of persons and property of white citizens; (5) to deprive 
them of privileges and immunities secured to them as citizens of 
the United States and of Louisiana on account of their color; (6) 
to hinder and prevent their enjoyment of the right of suffrage ; 
(7) to put in great fear and oppress such persons for having exer- 
cised the right of suffrage, and (8) to prevent and hinder such 
persons in the exercise and enjoyment of all the several rights and 
privileges guaranteed them by the institutions and laws of the 
United States. 
Then there were eight counts that charged them with combining, 
conspiring and confederating, instead of banding together as in the 
first eight; then there were sixteen counts charging similar offenses 
in other forms. ‘Three defendants were found guilty under these 
first sixteen counts and not guilty under the other sixteen. They 
moved for an arrest of judgment on the ground of the unconstitu- 
tionality of the statutes on which the indictment was based and the 
insufficiency of the indictment itself. There was a disagreement of 
the judges of the Circuit Court, the presiding judge being of the 
opinion that judgment should be arrested, and on a certificate of 
such division of opinion the case came up for hearing in the Su- 
preme Court. 
The section of the statute on which the prosecution was based 
provided that if two or more persons should ‘* band or conspire ”’ 
together, or go on the highway or the premises of another, with in- 
tent to violate the act or to oppress or intimidate any citizen so as 
to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or 
privilege granted or secured to him by the constitution or laws of 
the United States, or do the same because of his having exercised 
such right, such persons should be guilty of felony and be fined not 
to exceed $5000, or imprisoned not longer than ten years, or both, 
and be ineligible to any office under the federal government. 
Chief Justice Waite in deciding the case says : 
“To bring this case under the operation of the statute, it must appear 
that the right, the enjoyment of which the conspirators sought to prevent, 
was granted or secured by the laws of the constitution of the United 
States. If it does not so appear the criminal matter charged has not 
been made indictable by any act of Congress.”’ 
