Katzenbach v. McClung: Desegregating Dining (1964)

SURVEY: https://tinyurl.com/3jy9fpj6 Katzenbach v. McClung was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 1964. The case challenged the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations. The defendant, Ollie's Barbecue, was a restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama that refused to serve African American customers. The United States government argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was necessary to eliminate discrimination in public accommodations, which was a burden on interstate commerce. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate commerce among the states. The Court found that discrimination in public accommodations affected interstate commerce, as it prevented Black Americans from traveling freely and spending their money in restaurants and other places of public accommodation. The Katzenbach v. McClung ruling was a significant victory for the Civil Rights Movement, as it upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gave the federal government the power to enforce anti-discrimination laws in public accommodations.