Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-06-26
RIGHTS
RIGHTS
Difficulty in Enforcing
1857 Act Pointed Out
Continued From Page AL

Continued From Page AL
the volume of services or goods
above which the law would
apply.
Mr.. Kennedy replied that
while the bill does cover small
as well as large places it would
apply only to those furnishing
lodging to transient guests or
having some connection with
interstate commerce.
Mrs. Murphy's Place"
He added that it was not in
tended to include Mrs. Muir
phys place" The fictitious
Mrs. Murphy" who rents two
or three rooms in her home to
out-of-S State visitors, was born
in earlier Congressional discus
sion about the size of establish
ments to be covered.
On the other hand, the At
torney General said, if Mrs.
Murphy rented out her estab-
lishment, didn't live there her
self and catered to transientS,
she would be covered.
II don't think Mrs. Murphy
is going to be in a lot of trou-
ble," he concluded.
Mr.. Celler pointed out that
the National Labor Relations
Board issues standards on
which establishments are large
enough to be covered. He said
there might be years of delay
before a court decision is
handed down determining what
business is substantial enough
to be covered.
Willing to Cooperate
Mr.. Kennedy replied that if
Congress wants to define the
coverage more specifically, the
Justice Department would be
willing to work out something
along those lines.
At the same time, however,
he pointed out that such def
nitions would create a cutoff
line where big establishments
would be told they could not
discriminate and small eStab-
liShments could discriminate.
Representative Lindsay, Re-
publican of New York, who had
introduced legislation for a
public accommodations law
based on the Fourteenth
Amendment, chided Mr.. Ken
nedy for not having read his
bill
Arguing for the Fourteenth
Amendment approach, Mr..
Lindsay said he thought the
courts were the proper place to
test whether Mrs. Murphy was
covered.
The witness replied that he
did not think the Lindsay bill
went any further than the ad-
ministration bill in this re-
Spect.
1883 Decision Noted
AS for dealing with public
accommodations through the
14th Amendment, Mr.. Kennedy
pointed out that the Supreme
Court has never reversed its
1883 decision that the powers
Of Congress under the amend
ment did not extend to elimi-
mating discrimination in pri-
vately owned places of public
accommodation.
We're going to have enough
difficulty getting this bill
through, particularly in the
Senate" the Attorney General
said.
II don't think it makes a
great deal Of sense to argue
over how to cover public &C
commodations. I think the 14th
Amendment creates a problem
because a law on the books
says it's unconstitutional"
Mr.. Kennedy said he agreed
with several committee mem
bers in their opinions that the
Supreme Court would reverse
the old decision in the light of
present regulation of business
establishments, but he said a
lot of people disagreed with
him on that.
On the legal side, Mr.. Ken
nedy argued that private prop
erty rights long have been sub
Ject to reasonable Federal and
State regulation. He pointed out
that some 30 States now have
public accommodations laws
forbidding discrimination.
On the other hand. he noted
that a number Of States forbid
integrated service.
He said the administrations
school proposal would serve
two purposes. 1t would provide
technical assistance and au-
thorize loans to public school
officials in carrying out deseg-
regation plans. Secondly. it
would give the Attorney Gen.
eral authority to institute Fed
eral court suits in certain
cases involving racial discrim-
nation in public schools and
colleges.
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