Wolford v. Lopez · ¶110

Louisiana was one of those States. In 1865, three of its local governments enacted sweeping measures that one observer described as restoring “slavery in substance.” S. Exec. Doc. No. 2, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 96 (1865). Among other things, these ordinances prohibited blacks from renting or keeping a house within town limits, barred them from entering the town without permission of their employers, and forbade them from carrying weapons without authorization. Id., at 92–96. Fearing backlash from Congress, the state government opted for a subtler approach. See W. Caskey, Secession and Restoration of Louisiana 187 (1938). In the fall of that same year, the Democratic-controlled legislature convened a special session and tasked a joint committee with proposing legislation “‘to make [freedmen’s] labor available to the agricultural interests of the State.’” T. Wilson, The Black Codes of the…

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