of several Ku Klux Klan members who assaulted a black man for voting in a congressional election. Citing Article I of the U.S. Constitution, he set a precedent used in the 1960s to validate the expansion of federal control over the election process. He also argued Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879). Phillips was part of the team who argued the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, using both the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the 13th and 14th Amendments as a defense. As part of the legal counsel representing Homer Plessy in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case, he argued that the "separate-but-equal" doctrine was nothing less than a disparagement of African-Americans on the basis of color, much like slavery. After serving as Solicitor General, he went on to become a member of the U.S. and Venezuela Mixed Claims Commissions of 1888 and 1891. Phillips returned to private law practice in Washington, D.C. until 1901. Personal life Phillips married Frances R. Lucas (1831–1883), on December 3, 1849, at Chapel Hill. They had 10 children. In 1889 Phillips married Sarah Maury; she died in 1902. They had no children. Samuel Phillips died on November 18, 1903, aged 79, in Washington, D.C. His body was later moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), a North Carolina educational activist and author, is his sister. References External links 1824 births 1903 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians Activists from New York City American civil rights lawyers Lawyers from New York City Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina lawyers North Carolina Republicans North Carolina Whigs Politicians from New York City State Auditors of North Carolina United States Solicitors General University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Washington, D.C., Republicans American anti-war activists