For some unexplained reason. the majority of six. in groping for something on which to base a case last June 15. clutched the straw that is in the first section of the 14th amendment. This Reconstruction amendment was an outgrowth of the Civil War. and all reconstructed States were required to ratify it to gain admittance back into the Union. The first section says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States * * * are ciitzens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." And no State shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The reason for this. in view of the times. is obvious. It meant simply that whatever the lawit would apply to everyone. regardless of color. But there is a second. and longer section. to the 14th amendment.
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