Civil Rights Acts

By Kevin Leverenz
Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Aimed to support Civil Rights protections for
freedmen (freed slaves), including the right to
make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give
evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease,
sell, hold, and convey real and personal property

 Defined citizenship as including all those born on

U.S. soil (except Indians not taxed)

 Vetoed twice by President Andrew Johnson, but

still passed by Congress
 Civil Rights Act of 1871
 Was also known at the time as the “Ku Klux Klan
Act”
 One of main reasons for its passage was to protect

southern blacks from the KKK by providing a civil

remedy for abuses then being committed in the
south
 Civil Liability for police:
 1st case against officers: Monroe v. Pape (1961)
 For use against only municipal and state officials
 For Federal officers, Bivens Torts are filed - Applies
Section 1983 to Federal officials; From Bivens v. Six
Unnamed Agents (1971)
Civil Rights Act of 1875

 Guaranteed African-Americans the same treatment

as white citizens in certain public places

 * In 1883, Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional

Court Cases on Civil Rights
 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
 Supreme Court established a policy of “Separate but Equal”
 Known as Jim Crow Laws: Racial segregation more overt in
South, more covert in North (but very much present
throughout)

 Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

 Supreme Court looked at schools for white students and for
African American students
 They found that “separate but equal” was inherently unequal
 They ruled this violated the Equal Protection Clause and was
unconstitutional
 Civil Rights Act of 1957
 This act established the Civil Rights Commission
(CRC) to protect individuals rights to equal
protection and permitted courts to grant
injunctions in support of the CRC

 This act was primarily a voter’s right bill

 Civil Rights Act of 1960

 This act established federal inspection of local

voter registration rolls

 It introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed

someone's attempt to register to vote or actually
vote
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
 This act prohibited discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, and national origin

 Established the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC)

 Title VII found in this Civil Rights Act, used to file

both race and sex discrimination cases

 Title II of this Act, along with the Interstate

Commerce Clause, together, used to compel
businesses to treat people equally
Additional Civil Rights cases
 McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1972)
 Established rules to determine Disparate treatment
 Disparate treatment: treating applicants or employees
differently because of their membership in a protected
class

 Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)

 Established definition for Disparate Impact
 Disparate Impact: an employer cannot use a facially
neutral employment practice that has an unjustified
adverse impact on members of a protected class, even
where an employer is not motivated by discriminatory
intent
Civil Rights Act of 1968

 This act prohibited discrimination concerning the

sale, rental, and financing of housing

 Established the “Fair Housing Act”

 Civil Rights Act of 1991
 This act provided for:
 the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and,

 introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages,

 while limiting the amount that a jury could award.

 Conclusion

Questions, anyone?
 Question 1
 1. What are the six measures for determining whether or not disparate
treatment exists?

 A person must show that

 (1) he or she is a member of a protected class;
 (2) he or she applied for a position for which he or she was qualified and for
which the employer had openings;
 (3) he or she was rejected;
 (4) the position remained open and the employer continued to collect
applications;
 (5) When an employee works this far through the process, the burden of proof
shifts to the employer to establish a justifiable reason for its action
 (6) employee must prove that the employer’s reason was just a pretext for its
refusal to hire
 Question 2
 Define Standard for Disparate Impact
established in Griggs v. Duke Power Co.

 “When an employer establishes a test or other barrier

with the intention of using it to discriminate against a
protected class, this act creates a disparate impact
against the class. The burden, having been met,
shifts to the employer to justify its actions as being
job related or a business necessity” (Moran, 2005, p.
149).
 Question 3
 Both the Civil Rights Acts of 1875 and 1964 demanded
equal treatment for all citizens in certain public places,
like “inns, public conveyances on land or water,
theaters, and other places of public amusement.”
Similarly, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 required
equal treatment in “hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters,
and all other public accommodations engaged in
interstate commerce.”

 What two specific events led to the fact that the Act of
1875 failed where the Act of 1964 found success?
 Question 3, continued
 a. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Civil Rights
Cases (1883) deemed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was
unconsititional, citing that the protections of the 14th
Amendment only applied to state treatment of
minorities but did not apply to individual treatment of
minorities.

 b. With the Act of 1964, along with a wide

interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause, the
federal government was able to compel businesses to
treat all customers equally.