Search Results

Current Document View

Document introduced in:

Session 10617: 1872-02-19 12:00:00

H. R. 1647 is proposed

The Civil Rights Act of 1875

The House of Representatives

Session 10617: 1872-02-19 12:00:00

To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below

Preparing Visualisation - please wait

Document View:

H. R. 1647

There are 0 proposed amendments related to this document on which decisions have not been taken.

A Bill

Supplemental to an act entitled "An act to protect all citizens of the United States in their civil rights, and to furnish the means of their vindication," passed April 9, 1866.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no citizen of the United States shall, by reason of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, be excepted or excluded from the full and equal enjoyment of any accommodation advantage, facility, or privilege furnished by inn-keepers; by common-carriers, whether on land or water; by licensed owners, managers, or lessees of theaters or other places of public amusement; by trustees, commissioners, superintendents, teachers, and other officers of common schools and other public institutions of learning, the same being supported by moneys derived from general taxation, or authorized by law; by trustees and officers of cemetery associations and benevolent institutions incorporated by national or State authority. But private schools, cemeteries, and institutions of learning established exclusively for white or colored persons, and maintained respectively by voluntary contributions, shall remain according to the terms of the original establishment.

SEC. 2. That any person violating any of the provisions of the foregoing section, or aiding in their violation, or inciting thereto, shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in an action on the case, with full costs, and shall also, for every such offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than one year; Provided, That the party aggrieved shall not recover more than one penalty; and when the offense is a refusal of burial, the penalty may be recovered by the heirs at law of the person whose body has been refused burial.

SEC. 3. That the same jurisdiction and powers are hereby conferred and the same duties enjoined upon the courts and officers of the United States in the execution of this act as are conferred and enjoined upon such courts and officers in sections three, four, five, seven, and ten of an act entitled "An act to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and to furnish the means of their vindication," passed April 9, 1866, and these sections are hereby made a part of this act; and any of the aforesaid officers failing to institute and prosecute such proceedings herein required shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered by an action on the case, with full costs, and shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.

SEC. 4. That no citizen possessing all other qualifications which are or may be prescribed by law shall be disqualified for service as juror in any court, national or State, by reason of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; and any officer or other persons charged with any duty in the selection or summoning of jurors who shall exclude or fail to summon any citizen for the reason above named shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.

SEC. 5. That every discrimination against any citizen on account of color by the use of the word "white" in any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation, is hereby repealed and annulled.

Decisions yet to be taken

None