What were the US Supreme Court Civil Rights Cases 1883?

Answer 1

The Civil Rights Cases, 109 US 3 (1883)

Between 1866 and 1875, Congress passed several civil rights acts to implement the 13th and 14th Amendments during Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the most controversial because it imposed criminal penalties against businesses that discriminated on the basis of race. Many (white) people opposed to Reconstruction thought the Act infringed on their personal right of free association and "freedom of choice."

When federal troops withdrew from the South in 1879, the Reconstruction Period officially came to a close. Southern states immediately began passing "Black Codes," local legislation that was designed to restrict the labor and freedom of African-Americans, and to ensure separation between the races.

The Civil Rights Cases consolidated five cases on appeal from Circuit courts around the United States (see list) involving federal and constitutional law, and were brought before the Court during the 1882 Term (they were decided early in the 1883 Term). These cases raised the question of whether the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause could be applied to private citizens.

In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional because neither the 13th nor 14th Amendments empowered Congress to legislate behavior in the private sector. The Court believed these Amendments were only to be extended to the States.

By striking down civil rights legislation, the Court gave private citizens and businesses tacit permission to engage in overt acts of discrimination, and laid the groundwork for the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson,(1896).

Cases

United States v. Stanley (Kansas)

United States v. Ryan (California)

United States v. Nichols (Missouri)

United States v. Singleton (New York)

Robinson and Wife v. Memphis & Charleston Railroad Co.

Solicitor General Phillips represented the United States; the defendants were not represented.

Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases, (1883), and also in Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896). According to Justice Harlan: "The Constitution is color-blind: it neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens."

For more information, see Related Questions, below.