Katzenbach v. McClung
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| Katzenbach v. McClung | ||||||||||
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| Argued October 5, 1964 Decided December 14, 1964 |
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| Holding | ||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||
| Chief Justice: Earl Warren Associate Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron White, Arthur Goldberg |
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| Case opinions | ||||||||||
| Laws applied | ||||||||||
| Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 | ||||||||||
Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964),[1] was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress acted within the power of the Commerce Clause in concluding that racial discrimination by such restaurants was a burden to interstate commerce.
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[edit] Introduction
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[edit] Facts of the case
Ollie's Barbeque was a small, family-owned restaurant that operated in Birmingham, Alabama, and that seated 220 customers. It was located on a state highway and was 11 blocks from an interstate highway. In a typical year, approximately half of the food it purchased from a local supplier originated out-of-state. It catered to local families and white collar workers and provided take-out service to African American customers.
[edit] Prior history
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing segregation in U.S. schools and public places. One section of the act, Title II, was specifically intended to grant African Americans full access to public facilities such as hotels, restaurants, and public recreation areas. On the same day, the Supreme Court heard challenges to Title II from a motel owner, in Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. United States, and from Ollie McClung. Both claimed that the federal government had no right to impose any regulations on small, private businesses. Both ultimately lost. Ollie McClung won an initial round when he obtained an injunction in federal district court preventing the government from enforcing Title II against his restaurant. But then the Attorney General appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
[edit] Decision of the Court
Justice Clark wrote the majority opinion. The U.S. Supreme Court held that because some food served in the appellant's restaurant originated out of state, Congress could, under the Commerce Clause, outlaw racial segregation in this privately-owned business.
[edit] Effects of the decision
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[edit] Critical response
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[edit] Subsequent history
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[edit] References
- ^ {{{2}}} U.S. {{{3}}} Full text of the opinion courtesy of Findlaw.com.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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