Civil Rights Cases 1883
Could Congress bar racial discrimination by private businesses such as inns and theaters?
109 U.S. 3 (1883)Equal protection
- The question
- Could Congress bar racial discrimination by private businesses such as inns and theaters?
- What the Court held
- No. The Fourteenth Amendment reaches state action, not private conduct, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875’s public accommodations provisions were unconstitutional.
- The vote
- 8–1
- Read the opinion
- 109 U.S. 3 (1883), full text
This page summarizes the Court’s judgment in neutral terms. The opinion, concurrences and dissents are the authority; read them for the reasoning.