Civil Rights Cases

The Civil Rights Cases, {{ussc|109|3|1883}} were a group of five similar cases consolidated into one issue for the United States Supreme Court to review. The decision held that Congress lacked the constitutional authority under the enforcement provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals and organizations, rather than state and local governments.

Consequences of the decision

Harlan correctly predicted the consequences of this decision: it put an end to the attempts by Radical Republicans to ensure the civil rights of blacks and ushered in the widespread segregation of blacks in housing, employment and public life that confined them to second-class citizenship throughout much of the United States until the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement.

Related Topics:
Radical Republicans - Civil Rights Movement

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The decision that the Reconstruction-era Civil Rights Acts were unconstitutional has not been overturned; on the contrary, the Supreme Court reaffirmed this limited reading of the Fourteenth Amendment in United States v. Morrison, {{ussc|529|598|2000}}, in which it held that Congress did not have the authority to enact the Violence Against Women Act. The Court has, however, upheld more recent civil rights laws based on Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause in Article I.

Related Topics:
United States v. Morrison - Violence Against Women Act - Commerce Clause

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