Civil Rights Act of 1875 (1875).
Civil Rights Cases 109 U.S. 3 (1883)
1964 Civil Rights Act (1964)
…That all persons within the jurisdiction of the
United States shall be entitled to the full and equal
enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages,
facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances
on land or water, theaters, and other places of public
amusement; subject only to the conditions and
limitations established by law, and applicable alike to
citizens of every race and color, regardless of any
previous condition of servitude.
…In this connection, it is proper to state that civil
rights, such as are guaranteed by the Constitution
against State aggression, cannot be impaired by the
wrongful acts of individuals, unsupported by State
authority in the shape of laws, customs, or judicial or
executive proceedings. The wrongful act of an
individual, unsupported by any such authority, is
simply a private wrong, or a crime of that individual;
an invasion of the rights of the injured party, it is
true, whether they affect his person, his property, or
his reputation; but if not sanctioned in some way by
the State, or not done under State authority, his rights
remain in full force, and may presumably be
vindicated by resort to the laws of the State for
redress…[I]n all those cases where the Constitution
seeks to protect the rights of the citizen against
discriminative and unjust laws of the State by
prohibiting such laws, it is not individual offences,
but abrogation and denial of rights, which it
denounces and for which it clothes the Congress with
power to provide a remedy. This abrogation and
denial of rights for which the States alone were or
could be responsible was the great seminal and
fundamental wrong which was intended to be
remedied. And the remedy to be provided must
necessarily be predicated upon that wrong. It must
assume that, in the cases provided for, the evil or
wrong actually committed rests upon some State law
or State authority for its excuse and perpetration.
SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full
and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities,
and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of
any place of public accommodation, as defined in this
section, without discrimination or segregation on the
ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.
SEC. 2. That any person who shall violate the
foregoing section by denying to any citizen, except
for reasons by law applicable to citizens of every race
and color, and regardless of any previous condition of
servitude, the full enjoyment of any of the
accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges
in said section enumerated, or by aiding or inciting
such denial, shall, for every such offense, forfeit and
pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the person
aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in an action of
debt, with full costs; and shall also, for every such
offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than
five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or
shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more
than one year....
SEC. 4. That no citizen possessing all other
qualifications which are or may be prescribed by law
shall be disqualified for service as a grand or petit
juror in any court of the United States, or of any
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude; and any officer or other person charged
with any duty in the selection or summoning of jurors
who shall exclude or fail to summon any citizen for
the cause aforesaid shall, on conviction thereof, be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not
more than five thousand dollars.
(b) Each of the following establishments which
serves the public is a place of public accommodation
within the meaning of this title if its operations affect
commerce, or if discrimination or segregation by it is
supported by State action:
(1) any inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment
which provides lodging to transient guests…
(2) any restaurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch
counter, soda fountain, or other facility principally
engaged in selling food for consumption on the
premises, including, but not limited to, any such
facility located on the premises of any retail
establishment; or any gasoline station;
(3) any motion picture house, theater, concert hall,
sports arena, stadium or other place of exhibition or
entertainment…
(c) ...For purposes of this section, "commerce" means
travel, trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or
communication among the several States, or between
the District of Columbia and any State, or between
any foreign country or any territory or possession and
any State or the District of Columbia, or between
points in the same State but through any other State
or the District of Columbia or a foreign country.