JC599 U5 A333 1964 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY JAMES O. EASTLAND, Mississippi, Chairman OLIN D. JOHNSTON, South Carolina EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts BIRCH BAYH, Indiana QUENTIN N. BURDICK,1 North Dakota EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN, Illinois HUGH SCOTT, Pennsylvania 1 The late Hon. Estes Kefauver, while a member of this committee, died on Aug. 10, 1963. On Aug. 23, 1963, by order of the Senate, Hon. Quentin N. Burdick, of North Dakota, was assigned to serve on this committee. II CONTENTS Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. Extract from Purdy v. Moise ((S.C.-1953) 75 S.E. 2d 605). Extract from Camp Walden v. Johnson ((1960-Maine) 163 A. 2d 356). Page 150 Excerpt from 12 Amer. Juris., Constitutional Law, section 573, pages List of Supreme Court decisions interpreting the 14th amendment List of Supreme Court decisions relative to the equal protection clause-- List of Supreme Court decisions relative to interpretation and privileges__ Williams v. Howard Johnson's Restaurant (268 F. 2d. 845)_ Article, "The Right To Be Nasty," by Laurence H. Eldredge, from the Article, “Suit for White Pupils Charges Discrimination-Four Brooklyn Parents Protest City's Racial Quota Plan in New Junior High," from Compilation of persons 25 years old and over with less than 5 years of school completed as prepared by the Justice Department and submitted "Unlimited Federal Control of Individuals, Businesses, and the States,' by John C. Satterfield, attorney at law and a past president (1961-62) 76 Hon. Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States, Hon. Thomas J. Dodd, a U.S. Senator from the State of Connecticut__ Hon. Sam J. Ervin, Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of North 25, 45, 108, 117, 155, 175, 207, 237, 267, 334, 393 Hon. Philip A. Hart, a U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan. Hon. Kenneth B. Keating, a U.S. Senator from the State of New Hon. Thomas J. Dodd, a U.S. Senator from the State of Connecticut__ Hon. Roman L. Hruska, a U.S. Senator from the State of Nebraska__ Hon. Edward V. Long, a U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri___ APPENDIX Letter dated August 9, 1963, addressed to Hon. James O. Eastland, from Letter dated October 9, 1963, addressed to Hon. James O. Eastland, from (A) Excerpt from table 2 of Bureau of the Census Current Popula- 69 75 (B) Excerpt from table 3 of Bureau of the Census Current Popula- 433 (C) Table showing years of school completed by persons 14 to 24 years old, and 25 years old, and over, by color, in the 21 States requir- ing some form of literacy test. This was prepared from table 103 of the detailed characteristics volumes of the 1960 Reports of (D) Photocopies of first page of table 103 for each of the 21 States. These tables give a detailed breakdown of years of school com- pleted for the total population and the nonwhite population, as (E) Letter dated September 26, 1963, addressed to Harold H. Greene, CIVIL RIGHTS THE PRESIDENT'S PROGRAM, 1963 TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1963 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:45 a.m., in room G-308, New Senate Office Building, Senator James O. Eastland (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Eastland, Kefauver, Johnston, McClellan, Ervin, Dodd, Hart, Long of Missouri, Kennedy, Dirksen, Hruska, and Keating. Also present: L. P. B. Lipscomb, and Robert Young, professional staff members. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. The purpose of today's hearing, and the necessary subsequent ones, is to consider the various civil rights proposals that have been introduced in the 88th Congress and referred to this committee. S. 1731 embraces most of the recommendations that were transmitted to the Congress by the President in his messages of February 28, 1963, and June 19, 1963. S. 1750 likewise contains these recommendations, with the exception of the preamble to S. 1731 and the title on injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations. We are pleased to have with us today the Attorney General of the United States, Hon. Robert F. Kennedy, who has been invited to appear and testify in regard to the provisions of S. 1731 and S. 1750. The text of these proposed bills will be set out in the record of the hearings at this point. (The bills, S. 1731 and S. 1750, referred to, are as follows:) [S. 1731, 88th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in education, to establish a Community Relations Service, to extend for four years the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Civil Rights Act of 1963." SEC. 2. (a) Discrimination by reason of race, color, religion, or national origin is incompatible with the concepts of liberty and equality to which the Government of the United States is dedicated. In recent years substantial steps have been taken toward eliminating such discrimination throughout the Nation. Nevertheless, many citizens of the United States, solely because of their race, color, or national origin, are denied rights and privileges accorded to other citizens and thereby subjected to inconveniences, humiliations, and hardships. Such discrimination impairs the general welfare of the United States by prevent 1 ing the fullest development of the capabilities of the whole citizenry and by limiting participation in the economic, political, and cultural life of the Nation. (b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act to promote the general welfare by eliminating discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in voting, education, and public accommodations through the exercise by Congress of the powers conferred upon it to regulate the manner of holding Federal elections, to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, to regulate commerce among the several States, and to make laws necessary and proper to execute the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution. (c) It is also desirable that disputes or disagreements arising in any community from the discriminatory treatment of individuals for reasons of race, color, or national origin shall be resolved on a voluntary basis, without hostility or litigation. Accordingly, it is the further purpose of this Act to promote this end by providing machinery for the voluntary settlement of such disputes and disagreements. TITLE I-VOTING RIGHTS SEC. 101. Section 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971), as amended by section 131 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (71 Stat. 637), and as further amended by section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 90), is further amended as follows: (a) Insert "1" after "(a)" in subsection (a) and add at the end of subsection (a) the following new paragraphs: "(2) No person acting under color of law shall “(A) in determining whether any individual is qualified under State law to vote in any Federal election apply any standard, practice, or procedure different from the standards, practices, or procedures applied to individuals similarly situated who have been found by State officials to be qualified to vote. "(B) deny the right of any individual to vote in any Federal election because of an error or omission of such individual on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, payment of poll tax, or other act requisite to voitng, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such election; or "(C) employ any literacy test as a qualification for voting in any Federal election unless (i) such test is administered to each individual wholly in writing and (ii) a certified copy of the test and of the answers given by the individual is furnished to him within twenty-five days of the submission of his written request made within the period of time during which records and papers are required to be retained and preserved pursuant to title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (42 U.S.C. 1974-74e; 74 Stat. 88). "(3) For purposes of this subsection "(A) the term 'vote' shall have the same meaning as in subsection (e) of this section; "(B) the words 'Federal election' shall have the same meaning as in subsection (f) of this section; and "(C) the phrase 'literacy test' includes any test of the ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter." (b) Insert immediately following the period at the end of the first sentence of subsection (c) the following new sentence: "If in any such proceeding literacy is a relevant fact it shall be presumed that any person who has not been adjudged an incompetent and who has completed the sixth grade in a public school in, or a private school accredited by, any State or territory or the District of Columbia where instruction is carried on predominantly in the English language, possesses sufficient literacy, comprehension, and intelligence to vote in any Federal election as defined in subsection (f) of this section." (c) Add the following subsection "(f)" and designate the present subsection "(f)" as subsection "(g)": "(f) Whenever in any proceeding instituted pursuant to subsection (c) the complaint requests a finding of a pattern or practice pursuant to subsection (e), and such complaint, or a motion filed within twenty days after the effective date of this Act in the case of any proceeding which is pending before a district court on such effective date, (1) is signed by the Attorney General (or in his absence the Acting Attorney General), and (2) alleges that in the affected area fewer than 15 per centum of the total number of voting age persons of the same race as the persons alleged in the complaint to have been discriminated against |