Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States

E4586

United States Supreme Court case constitutional law case landmark civil rights case

Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States is a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by affirming Congress’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations under the Commerce Clause.

Aliases (4)

Statements (52)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case → constitutional law case → landmark civil rights case →
arguedDate	October 5, 1964 →
businessType	motel →
challengedProvision	Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 →
challengedStatute	Civil Rights Act of 1964 →
citation	379 U.S. 241 →
constitutionalBasis	Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution →
constitutionalProvisionCited	Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution →
constitutionalProvisionRaised	Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution → Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution →
country	United States →
court	Supreme Court of the United States →
decisionDate	December 14, 1964 →
decisionType	unanimous decision →
defendant	United States →
fullName	Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc., et al. v. United States, et al. →
holding	Congress may prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations under the Commerce Clause → Places of public accommodation that serve interstate travelers or use goods that have moved in interstate commerce may be regulated by Congress → Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause →
impact	expanded interpretation of the Commerce Clause to include regulation of local activities affecting interstate commerce → strengthened federal enforcement of civil rights in public accommodations →
issue	constitutionality of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 →
justiceInMajority	Arthur J. Goldberg → Byron R. White → Earl Warren → Hugo L. Black → John M. Harlan II → Potter Stewart → Tom C. Clark → William J. Brennan Jr. → William O. Douglas →
legalArea	Commerce Clause jurisprudence → civil rights law → constitutional law → public accommodations law →
locationOfBusiness	Atlanta, Georgia →
lowerCourt	United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia →
lowerCourtDisposition	upheld the constitutionality of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 →
majorityOpinionBy	Tom C. Clark →
page	241 →
plaintiff	Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. →
relatedCase	Katzenbach v. McClung →
reporter	United States Reports →
subjectMatter	racial discrimination in public accommodations → segregation in lodging facilities →
supremeCourtDisposition	affirmed →
topic	Civil Rights Act of 1964 enforcement → federal power over interstate commerce →
volume	379 →
year	1964 →

Referenced by (16)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Katzenbach v. McClung → Ollie’s Barbecue → Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause →	relatedCase
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution →	citedIn
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States ("Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc., et al. v. United States, et al.") →	fullName
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause →	heldIn
Katzenbach v. McClung ("Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a valid exercise of Congress’s commerce power as applied to local restaurants") →	holding
Commerce Clause →	interpretedInCase
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States ("Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc.") →	plaintiff
Katzenbach v. McClung ("Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (decided same day, companion case)") →	precededBy
Gibbons v. Ogden →	precedentFor
Civil Rights Act of 1964 →	relatedCaseLaw
Ollie’s Barbecue case →	relatedTo
Title II – Public Accommodations →	upheldByCase
Civil Rights Act of 1964 →	upheldByCourtCase
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 →	upheldIn