The author, a professor at Harvard Law School, argues that we should interpret the Fourteenth Amendment in line with its drafters' intentions. This, the author posits, would result in a much narrower Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence than what we have currently.
By examining the legislative history surrounding the Fourteenth Amendment, the author shows that the 39th Congress intended for the Fourteenth Amendment to provide a constitutional basis for the 1866 Civil Rights Act. And the goal of the Civil Rights Act was to eliminate the Black Codes by preventing states from discriminating against black people in a narrow set of "fundamental rights"-- owning property, freedom of movement, access to the courts, and protection from government. In the language of the Fourteenth Amendment, these rights were "privileges or immunities." Legislatures were forbidden to treat blacks and whites differently in these rights ("equal protection") and the judiciary was similarly forbidden ("due process").
Importantly, the Fourteenth Amendment was not intended to create any rights related to voting, nor was it intended to eliminate segregation or "incorporate" the Bill of Rights against the states.
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