its
warrant for so doing--for inflicting upon the plaintiff and the
class to which she belongs, the bar of perpetual
disfranchisement, where no crime or offense is alleged or
pretended, and without "due process of law."

We charge it as a "bill of attainder" of the most odious and
oppressive character. The State can no more deprive a citizen of
the United States of one privilege than of another, except by the
"law of the land." There is no security for freedom if this be
denied. To use the language of Mr. Madison, such a course
"violates the vital principle of free government, that those who
are to be bound by laws, ought to have a voice in making them."
(Madison Papers, vol. 3--appendix, p. 12.)

It is sometimes said this is one of the "reserved rights" of the
States. But this can not be, for the simple reason that, as to
the "privileges and immunities" of federal citizenship, they had
no existence prior to the adoption of the Federal Constitution;
how then could they be reserved?

As Mr. Justice Story says: "The States can exercise no powers
whatsoever, which exclusively spring out of the existence of the
National Government, which the Constitution does not delegate to
them.... No State can say that it has reserved what it never
possessed." (Commentaries, Secs. 624-627.)

We say, then, that the States may regulate, but they have no
right to prohibit the franchise to citizens of the United States.
They may prescribe the qualifications of the electors. They may
require that they shall be of a certain age, be of sane mind, be
free from crime, etc., because these are conditions for the good
of the whole, and to which all citizens, sooner or later, may
attain. But to single out a class of citizens and say to them,
"Notwithstanding you possess all these qualifications, you shall
never vote, or take part in your government," what is it but a
bill of attainder?

To show that the mere regulation of this matter of suffrage was
left to the States for the purpose we have indicated, and not to
their absolute and ultimate control, we will now quote the
language of one of the framers of the Constitution, to whom,
indeed, has been applied the epithet of "Father of the
Constitution"--James Madison; and this, too, in reply to
questions