Civil Rights Cases Summary

The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, aimed to grant equal rights to newly freed slaves.
Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment grants Congress the power to enforce the equal protection clause through appropriate legislation.
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was enacted by Congress to prohibit private racial discrimination in public accommodations and transportation.

Addressed private racial discrimination by individuals and businesses.
Made it illegal to discriminate based on race in:
- Public transportation
- Public accommodations (theaters, inns, etc.)

Owners of white-owned businesses challenged the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
The Supreme Court consolidated these challenges into a single case known as the "Civil Rights Cases."
In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional by a vote of 8-1.

The court narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment, focusing on its text.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that "no state shall deny to any person the equal protection of the laws."
The court emphasized that the Fourteenth Amendment only mentions "states" and does not mention private businesses or individuals.
The court concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to private businesses or private discrimination.
Therefore, Congress lacks the power to regulate or prohibit private discrimination.
The court asserted that the Fourteenth Amendment only empowers Congress to correct discriminatory state laws and actions by state officers.

Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented, arguing that the majority's interpretation was too narrow and artificial.
Harlan believed the ruling sacrificed the substance and spirit of the post-Civil War amendments through overly subtle textual analysis.
Harlan acknowledged that government should not interfere with social interactions or force social integration.
However, he argued that states, their officers, or entities operating under state authority for public benefit cannot discriminate based on race.
Harlan maintained that the rights protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were legal, not social, rights.

The Civil Rights Cases established the "state action doctrine."
The state action doctrine limits the federal government's power to combating discrimination by state governments only, not private entities.
This created a legal problem for civil rights advocates.

The federal government was unable to enact laws protecting African Americans from private discrimination.
States had the power to ban private discrimination but often reinforced it instead.
Racial discrimination continued and increased due to these rulings.
Along with Plessy v. Ferguson, the Civil Rights Cases significantly weakened the Fourteenth Amendment.
The court essentially declared that states could segregate based on race (Plessy) and the federal government could not combat private racial discrimination (Civil Rights Cases).
It took over half a century to begin repairing the damage caused by these decisions.