Basically Law

Read the opinion here.

Issue.  Did Congress have the power to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1875 under the 13^th and/or 14^th Amendment?

Background.  The Civil Rights Act of 1875 states:

That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances of land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color, regardless or any previous condition of servitude.

The law also allowed for private suits by individuals aggrieved and individuals could be criminally sanctioned for violating the law.

Various private individuals challenged the law as unconstitutional and the cases were consolidated in this case.  The Supreme Court struck the law as unconstitutional since it exceeded Congresses power under both the 13^th and 14^th Amendments.

Court’s Analysis.  The Court noted that the provisions of the 14^th Amendment apply only to state action.  Therefore, if Congress is acting under its authority from section 5 of that Amendment, it must be done to address state action.  Congress does not have the power to regulate private discrimination under the 14^th Amendment unless it involves a State actor or is protected by the State.  Since the law does not require state action, it is not a constitutional exercise of congressional power under section 5 of the 14^th Amendment.

With respect to the 13^th Amendment, the Court noted that the Amendment meant more than just abolishing slavery.   Section one effectively made any law regarding slavery and/or involuntary servitude void.  So, section 2, which gives Congress the power to enforce the 13^th Amendment means something more.  While some have suggested that section 2 gives Congress the power to legislate against “badges” of slavery, it cannot apply to every act of private discrimination.  Therefore, Congress did not have the power to enact the Civil Rights Law under the 13^th Amendment.

The majority also suggested that Congress may have the power to pass the law under the commerce clause but they never did any analysis because Congress did not claim that it was acting under its power under the commerce clause.  In dissent, Justice Harlan thought the issue should have been addressed and that courts should not overturn laws just because Congress did not specify under which provision of the Constitution it was acting.

Further, Harlan believed that Congress was acting under the powers given to it in the 13^th and 14^th Amendments.  If Congress could not regulate personal behavior, what will result is the freed slaves will be returned to a status akin of servitude.  That is what the 13^th and 14^th Amendments were passed to prevent.  Ultimately, Harlan proved to be right as Southern whites pretty much set up a legal structure of discrimination and segregation in the South.

My Analysis.  The Civil Rights Cases has never been overturned by the Supreme Court because the Court recognized in later cases that Congress has the power to pass such laws under the Commerce Clause.

Nonetheless, I believe the Court was wrong in this matter.  If you look at the history behind the 14^th Amendment, it was a direct response to Black Codes passed in the South following the Civil War.  The whole purpose was to stop Southern states from passing laws that would allow for and permit discrimination and segregation.  What better way to stop it than a federal law to the contrary.  Think of the people who wrote and passed the 14^th Amendment, they were the same ones who passed the Civil Rights Law of 1875.  They knew what they meant.