Table 1.
Major laws and court decisions related to civil rights, United States 1791 to 2015.
| Legal Source (year enacted) | Judicial decision (J) or Legislation (L) | Populations covered | Major outcomesa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill of Rights (1791) | L | U.S. residents | Protection of individual rights and limitations on governmental powers |
| Dred Scott (1857) | J | Free and enslaved black people living in the USA | All black persons (negroes), free or enslaved, with African ancestry, are ineligible for US citizenship |
| 13th Constitutional Amendment (1865) | L | slaves | Slaves emancipated |
| An Act to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil Rights, and furnish the Means of their Vindication (1866) | L | U.S. residents | All resident populations guaranteed equal protection under law. |
| 14th Constitutional Amendment (1868) | L | all U.S. residents | All resident populations guaranteed equal protection under law. |
| 15th Constitutional Amendment (1870) | L | Black men | Freed Black slave men given right to vote |
| Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) | J | all U.S. residents | Separate but equal access to public facilities ruled legitimate |
| 19th Constitutional Amendment (1920) | L | U.S. women residents | Women given right to vote |
| Indian Citizenship Act (1924) | L | American Indians | American Indians given citizenship |
| Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) | J | housing covenants | Enforcement of exclusive housing covenants ruled unconstitutional |
| Brown v. Board of Education (1954) | J | all U.S. residents | Separate but equal ruled illegitimate |
| Simpkins v.Moses H.Cone Memorial Hospital (1963) | J | hospitals | Hospitals receiving federal funds were no longer considered private, but as arms of the state subject to federal requirements. |
| Civil Rights Act 1964 | L | all U.S. residents | |
| Key Titles | |||
| Title I | L | Bars unequal voter registration requirements | |
| Title II | L | Bars discrimination in public facilities engaged in interstate commerce | |
| Title III | L | Bars government discrimination in access to public facilities | |
| Title IV | L | Encourages desegregation of schools and advocates enforcement | |
| Title VI | L | Bars discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funds. | |
| Title VII, amended as Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972) | L | Prohibits discrimination by covered employers | |
| Title VIII, amended as Fair Housing Act | L | Requires voting data in specified regions. Prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of homes | |
| Title IX | L | Facilitates transfer of civil rights cases from prejudicial state courts to federal court, fostering more consistent application of laws. | |
| Title X | L | Establishes the Community Relations Service to assist in community disputes regarding discrimination | |
| Voting Rights Act (1965) | L | all U.S. residents | Removed requirements for voting, e.g., literacy tests, that had restricted access to voting by racial groups. |
| Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, 1965) | L | schools | Directed to assure equal opportunities for education to low income neighborhoods by supplementing financial resources. |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972), Amends CRA, Title VII | L | all U.S. residents | Expands non-discrimination policy to employers with 15–25 employees. |
| Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (1989) | L | banks | Requires banks to track not only census tracts where they made loans, but also of the characteristics of borrowers and applicants. |
a
Civil rights laws and rulings commonly designate or apply to a protected class: “A class of individuals to whom Congress or a state legislature has given legal protection against discrimination or retaliation.” (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/protected_class).