Civil Rights Act of 1964

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Civil Rights Act of 1964 Full title An act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States of America to provide relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes. Enacted by the 88th United States Congress Effective July 2, 1964 Citations Public Law 88-352 Stat. 78 Stat. 241 Codification Legislative history Introduced in the House as H.R. 7152 by Emanuel Celler (D–NY) on June 20, 1963 Committee consideration by: Judiciary Passed the House on February 10, 1964 (290–130) Passed the Senate on June 19, 1964 (71–29) with amendment House agreed to Senate amendment on June 30, 1964 (289–126) Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson onJuly 2, 1964 Major amendments Relevant Supreme Court cases Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung Griggs v. Duke Power Co.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public ("public accommodations").

Once the Act was implemented, its effects were far-reaching on the country as a whole and had an immediate impact on the South. It prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the southern U.S. It became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring.

After passage of the law, the NAACP was the only major civil rights organization to maintain a large membership in the South, where it concentrated on organizing the ongoing struggle for black civil rights. During 1965-75, the NAACP remained committed to using litigation to challenge racial injustice. Its legal efforts focused on four areas: enforcement of both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, school integration, employment discrimination, and the struggle to keep Southern states and localities from switching to at-large elections.^[1]

Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8), its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment and its duty to protect voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment.