McGhee v. Sipes

E99505

United States Supreme Court case housing discrimination case landmark civil rights case

McGhee v. Sipes is a landmark 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case that, alongside Shelley v. Kraemer, held that courts could not enforce racially restrictive covenants in property deeds without violating the Equal Protection Clause.

Aliases (1)

Vincent L. McGhee et al. v. Sipes et al. panel of the U.S. Supreme Court ×1

Statements (31)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case → housing discrimination case → landmark civil rights case →
areaOfLaw	civil rights law → constitutional law → property law →
citationStatus	good law →
classification	Fourteenth Amendment Supreme Court decision → civil rights Supreme Court decision →
constitutionalProvisionInvolved	Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution →
country	United States →
decidedBy	Vincent L. McGhee et al. v. Sipes et al. panel of the U.S. Supreme Court →
decisionDate	1948 →
effect	advanced desegregation in housing markets → expanded the concept of state action to include judicial enforcement of private agreements → limited the practical enforceability of racially restrictive covenants in the United States →
era	civil rights era precursor →
holding	judicial enforcement of private racially restrictive covenants constitutes state action → state courts may not enforce racially restrictive covenants without violating the Equal Protection Clause →
impactOnDoctrine	clarified that private agreements become subject to the Fourteenth Amendment when enforced by courts →
jurisdiction	Supreme Court of the United States →
languageOfWork	English →
legalIssue	enforceability of racially restrictive covenants → state action under the Fourteenth Amendment →
legalPrinciple	courts may not give effect to private agreements that result in unconstitutional discrimination →
partOf	line of cases restricting racially discriminatory practices in housing →
relatedCase	Hurd v. Hodge → Shelley v. Kraemer →
subjectMatter	racial discrimination in housing → racially restrictive covenants in real property deeds →
timePeriod	post–World War II era →

Referenced by (2)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
McGhee v. Sipes ("Vincent L. McGhee et al. v. Sipes et al. panel of the U.S. Supreme Court") →	decidedBy
Shelley v. Kraemer →	decidedWith