Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. – Romans 12:9
The United States was built on the concept that “all men are created equal.” Though the phrase notably did not include women, Missouri native Virginia Minor challenged this notion by registering to vote on this day in 1872, which led to the Supreme Court case Minor v. Happersett. After being prohibited from voting because she was a woman, Minor filed a lawsuit. She claimed that this prohibition violated the Constitution since the Fourteenth Amendment made her a legal citizen with the right to vote. However, the Supreme Court ruled at that time that citizenship “does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone,” allowing the prohibition to stand. The legal ruling was eventually superseded by the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment by Congress and its ratification by the states, nearly 50 years later.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For justices of the Supreme Court as they hear and rule on the cases being argued in this term.
- For federal judges to be discerning as they hear challenges to law based on constitutionality.
