United States v. Raines

United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17 (1960), was a United States Supreme Court decision relating to civil rights. The Court overturned the ruling of a U.S. District Court, which had held that a law authorizing the Federal Government to bring civil actions against State Officials for discriminating against African-Americans citizens was unconstitutional.

United States v. Raines
Argued January 12, 1960
Decided February 29, 1960
Full case nameUnited States v. James Griggs Raines, Dixon Oxford, Roscoe Radford, Registrars of Terrell County, Georgia, F. Lawson Cook, Sr. and Mrs. F. Lawson Cook, Sr., Deputy Registrars
Citations362 U.S. 17 (more)
80 S. Ct. 519; 4 L. Ed. 2d 524
Case history
PriorRuling for plaintiff, 172 F. Supp. 552 (M.D. Ga. 1959)
Holding
As applied, § 131 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 is unconstitutional; the federal government cannot bring civil actions against state officials, insofar as discrimination is concerned.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Charles E. Whittaker · Potter Stewart
Case opinions
MajorityBrennan, joined by unanimous
ConcurrenceFrankfurter, joined by Harlan

Attorney General brought suit to enjoin (issue injunction) against Raines and other Georgia public officials from discriminating against African Americans wanting to vote. District court dismissed the complaint from Raines, et al. because this could be brought by private citizens.

See also

Further reading

  • Bartholomew, Paul C. (1961). "The Supreme Court of the United States: 1959-1960". The Western Political Quarterly. 14 (1): 5–16. doi:10.2307/443928. JSTOR 443928.


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