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GUARDIANS ASSN. V. CIVIL SVC. COMM'N, 463 U. S. 582 - Volume 463 - 1983 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 463 > GUARDIANS ASSN. V. CIVIL SVC. COMM'N, 463 U. S. 582 (1983) > Full Text
GUARDIANS ASSN. V. CIVIL SVC. COMM'N, 463 U. S. 582 (1983)
Guardians Assn. v. Civil Svc. Comm'n, 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
Commission of the City of New York
Held: The judgment is affirmed. 633 F.2d 232, affirmed.
Page 463 U. S. 583
WHITE, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in Parts I, III, IV, and V of which REHNQUIST, J., joined. POWELL, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which BURGER, C.J., joined, and in Part II of which REHNQUIST, J., joined, post, p. 463 U. S. 607. REHNQUIST, J., post, p. 463 U. S. 612, and O'CONNOR, J., post, p. 463 U. S. 612, filed opinions concurring in the judgment. MARSHALL, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 463 U. S. 615. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined, post, p. 463 U. S. 635.
Page 463 U. S. 584
The threshold issue before the Court is whether the private plaintiffs in this case need to prove discriminatory intent to establish a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 194, 78 Stat. 252, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq., [Footnote 1] and administrative implementing regulations promulgated thereunder. I conclude, as do four other Justices, in separate opinions, that the Court of Appeals erred in requiring proof of discriminatory intent. [Footnote 2] However, I conclude that the judgment below should be affirmed on other grounds, because, in the absence of proof of discriminatory animus, compensatory relief should not be awarded to private Title VI plaintiffs; unless discriminatory intent is shown, declaratory and limited injunctive relief should be the only available private remedies for Title VI violations. There being four other Justices who would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals, that judgment is accordingly affirmed.
Page 463 U. S. 585
On April 30, 1976, petitioners filed the present suit [Footnote 5] against the Department and other New York City officials
Page 463 U. S. 586
and entities, the respondents here. Petitioners' amended complaint alleged that the June, 1975, layoffs violated their rights under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq., and § 2000e et seq., under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and under various other state and federal laws. [Footnote 6] The primary allegation of the complaint was that, but for the discriminatory impact of the challenged examinations upon minorities, petitioners would have been hired earlier, and therefore would have accumulated sufficient seniority to withstand the layoffs.
After a hearing, the District Court held that, although petitioners had failed to prove that the respondents had acted with discriminatory intent, the use of the examinations violated Title VII, because the tests had a disparate impact upon minorities, and were not proved by respondents to be job-related. [Footnote 7] The court therefore granted petitioners' motion for a preliminary injunction restraining the Department from firing or recalling any police officers until seniority lists were reordered to accord petitioners the seniority they would have had but for respondents' discriminatory practices. 431 F.Supp. 526 (SDNY 1977). In light of its holding under
Page 463 U. S. 587
Title VII, the District Court deemed it unnecessary to decide the merits of petitioners' claims under Title VI. Id. at 530, n. 2.
The court then turned to Title VI, which has been applicable to municipalities since its enactment in 1964, to see if it would provide relief for the time periods prior to March 24, 1972. After considering Cort v. Ash, 422 U. S. 66 (1975), and the various opinions in University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265 (1978), the District Court concluded that an implied private right of action exists under Title VI. 466 F.Supp. at 1281-1285. Then, citing Lau v. Nichols, 414 U. S. 563 (1974), and Title VI administrative interpretative regulations adopted by several federal agencies, the court reasoned that proof of discriminatory effect is enough to establish a violation of Title VI in a private action, thereby rejecting respondents' contention that only proof of discriminatory intent could suffice. 466 F.Supp. at 1285-1287. Finally, turning to the question of relief, the court held that the
Page 463 U. S. 588
same remedies available under Title VII should be available under Title VI, unless they would conflict with some purpose peculiar to Title VI.
The third member of the panel, Judge Meskill, declined to reach the question whether Title VI requires proof of discriminatory intent. Instead, he concluded that the "compensatory remedies sought by and awarded to plaintiffs in the case at bar are not available to private litigants under Title VI." Id. at 255. Nothing in the legislative history, Judge Meskill observed, indicated that Title VI was intended to compensate individuals excluded from the benefits of a program receiving federal assistance, and, in his view, a compensatory
Page 463 U. S. 589
private remedy would work at cross-purposes with the administrative enforcement mechanism expressly provided by § 602 of Title VI, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1, and with the objectives of the federal assistance statutes. 633 F.2d at 255-262. [Footnote 8]
First, I recognize that, in Bakke, five Justices, including myself, declared that Title VI, on its own bottom, reaches no
Page 463 U. S. 590
further than the Constitution, [Footnote 10] which suggests that, in light of Washington v. Davis, 426 U. S. 229 (1976), Title VI does not, of its own force, proscribe unintentional racial discrimination. The Court of Appeals thought these declarations were inconsistent with Lau's holding that Title VI contains its own prohibition of disparate impact racial discrimination. The issue in Bakke, however, was whether Title VI forbids intentional discrimination in the form of affirmative action intended to remedy past discrimination, even though such affirmative action is permitted by the Constitution. Holding that Title VI does not bar such affirmative action if the Constitution does not is plainly not determinative of whether Title VI proscribes unintentional discrimination in addition to the intentional discrimination that the Constitution forbids. It is sensible to construe Title VI, a statute intended to protect racial minorities, as not forbidding those intentional, but benign, racial classifications that are permitted by the Constitution, yet as proscribing burdensome, nonbenign discriminations of a kind not contrary to the Constitution. Although some of the language in the Bakke opinions has a broader sweep, the holdings in Bakke and Lau are entirely consistent. Absent some more telling indication in the Bakke opinions that Lau was being overruled, I would not so hold. [Footnote 11]
Page 463 U. S. 591
Even if I am wrong in concluding that Bakke did not overrule Lau, as so many of my colleagues believe, there is another reason for holding that disproportionate impact discrimination is subject to the Title VI regime. In Lau, the Court was unanimous in affirming a holding that the school district there involved was forbidden by Title VI to practice unintentional, as well as intentional, discrimination against racial minorities. Five Justices were of the view that Title VI itself forbade impact discrimination. Lau, 414 U.S. at 414 U. S. 566-569. Justice Stewart, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE and JUSTICE BLACKMUN, concurred in the result. The concurrence stated that it was not at all clear that Title VI, standing alone, would prohibit unintentional discrimination, but that the Title VI implementing regulations, which explicitly forbade impact discrimination, were valid because not inconsistent with the purposes of Title VI. Id. at 414 U. S. 569-571. [Footnote 12] Even if Bakke must be taken as overruling Lau's holding that the statute itself does not reach disparate impact, none of the five Justices whose opinions arguably compel this result considered whether the statute would permit regulations that clearly reached such discrimination. And no Justice in Bakke took issue with the view of the three concurring Justices in Lau, who concluded that, even if Title VI itself did not proscribe unintentional racial discrimination,
Page 463 U. S. 592
Of course, this leaves the question whether THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice Stewart, and JUSTICE BLACKMUN were correct in their reading of the statute. I am convinced that they were. The language of Title VI, on its face, is ambiguous; the word "discrimination" is inherently so. It is surely subject to the construction given the antidiscrimination proscription of Title VII in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U. S. 424 (1971), at least to the extent of permitting, if not requiring, regulations that reach disparate impact discrimination. As Justice Stewart pointed out, the federal agency given enforcement authority had consistently construed Title VI in that manner. Lau, supra, at 414 U. S. 570 (opinion concurring in result). Moreover, soon after the passage of Title VI, the Department of Justice, which had helped draft the legislation, assisted seven agencies in the preparation of regulations incorporating the disparate impact standard of discrimination. [Footnote 13] These regulations were early interpretations of the statute by the agencies charged with its enforcement, and we should not reject them absent clear inconsistency with the face or structure of the statute, or with the unmistakable mandate of the legislative history. Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, 437 U. S. 443, 437 U. S. 450 (1978). I discern nothing in the legislative history of Title VI, and nothing has been presented by respondents, that is at odds with the administrative construction of the statutory terms. The Title, furthermore, has been consistently administered in this manner
Page 463 U. S. 593
for almost two decades without interference by Congress. [Footnote 14] Under these circumstances, it must be concluded that Title VI reaches unintentional, disparate impact discrimination as well as deliberate racial discrimination.
Four years later, the Court decided University of California Regents v. Bakke, which also involved a private suit
Page 463 U. S. 594
seeking relief under Title VI against state educational authorities. Four Justices assumed, but did not decide, that a private action was available under Title VI. [Footnote 16] A fifth Justice was of the view that no private cause of action could be implied under the Title. [Footnote 17] The four remaining Justices concluded that a private action was available. [Footnote 18]
Still later, in Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677 (1979), the Court, applying the factors specified in Cort v. Ash, 422 U. S. 66 (1975), held that private parties could sue to enforce the prohibitions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., against gender-based discrimination in any educational program supported by federal funds. A major part of the analysis was that Title IX had been derived from Title VI, that Congress understood that private remedies were available under Title VI, and that Congress intended similar remedies to be available under Title IX. 441 U.S. at 441 U. S. 694-703. Furthermore, it was the unmistakable thrust of the Cannon Court's opinion that the congressional view was correct as to the availability of private actions to enforce Title VI. Id. at 441 U. S. 710-716. Two Justices, in dissent, were of the view that private remedies under Title VI itself were not available, and that the same was true under Title IX. Those Justices, however, asserted that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 was available to enforce the proscriptions of Title VI and Title IX where the alleged discriminatory practices were being carried on under the color of state law. Id. at 441 U. S. 717-730 (WHITE, J., dissenting, joined by BLACKMUN, J.). Thus at least eight Justices in Cannon were of the view that Title VI and Title IX could be
Page 463 U. S. 595
enforced in a private action against a state or local agency receiving federal funds, such as the respondent Department. [Footnote 19] See also Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U. S. 1 (1980).
444 U.S. at 444 U. S. 19. But the Court refused to allow recovery of monetary relief in a private suit alleging violations of the Act, stating that, in the absence of a contrary legislative intent, "where a statute expressly provides a particular
Page 463 U. S. 596
Thus, the Court has more than once announced that, in fashioning remedies for violations of Spending Clause statutes by recipients of federal funds, the courts must recognize that the recipient has "alternative choices of assuming the additional costs" of complying with what a court has announced is necessary to conform to federal law or of "not using federal funds" and withdrawing from the federal program entirely. Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U. S. 397, 397 U. S. 420-421 (1970). Although a court may identify the violation and enjoin its continuance or order recipients of federal funds prospectively to perform their duties incident to the receipt of federal money, the recipient has the option of withdrawing, and hence terminating the prospective force of the injunction.
Page 463 U. S. 597
Since the private cause of action under Title VI is one implied by the judiciary, rather than expressly created by Congress, we should respect the foregoing considerations applicable in Spending Clause cases and take care in defining the limits of this cause of action and the remedies available thereunder. Because it was found that there was no proof of intentional discrimination by respondents, I put aside for present purposes those situations involving a private plaintiff who is entitled to the benefits of a federal program but who has been intentionally discriminated against by the administrators of the program. In cases where intentional discrimination has been shown, there can be no question as to what the recipient's obligation under the program was, and no question that the recipient was aware of that obligation. In such situations, it may be that the victim of the intentional discrimination should be entitled to a compensatory award, as well as to prospective relief in the event the State continues with the program. [Footnote 20]
Page 463 U. S. 598
The foregoing considerations control decision in this case. I note first that Title VI is spending-power legislation:
Page 463 U. S. 599
"what evidence of intent exists in this case, circumstantial
Page 463 U. S. 600
though it may be, weighs against the implication of a private right of action for a monetary award in a case such as this,"
The Keating-Ribicoff proposal was not included in Title VI, but the important point for present purposes is that even the
Page 463 U. S. 601
most ardent advocates of private enforcement of Title VI contemplated that private plaintiffs would only be awarded "preventive relief." Like the drafters of Title II, they did not intend to allow private plaintiffs to recover monetary awards. Although the expressed intent of Senators Keating and Ribicoff is alone not determinative of whether a compensatory remedy may be obtained in a private action to enforce Title VI,
42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1. Although an award of damages would not be as drastic a remedy as a cutoff of funds,
Page 463 U. S. 602
the possibility of large monetary liability for unintended discrimination might well dissuade potential nondiscriminating recipients from participating in federal programs, thereby hindering the objectives of the funding statutes. See 633 F.2d at 261-262 (opinion of Meskill, J.).
In summary, there is no legislative history that in any way rebuts the Pennhurst presumption that only limited injunctive relief should be granted as a remedy for unintended violations of statutes passed pursuant to the spending power. What little evidence there is evinces an intent not to allow any greater relief. [Footnote 23] I conclude that compensatory relief, or
Page 463 U. S. 603
other relief based on past violations of the conditions attached to the use of federal funds, is not available as a private remedy for Title VI violations not involving intentional discrimination. [Footnote 24]
If the relief unavailable under Title VII and ordered under Title VI is the kind of relief that should be withheld in enforcing a Spending Clause statute, the Court should affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals without more. Only if all or some of this relief is the kind of declaratory or prospective relief that private enforcement of Title VI properly contemplates should the Court of Appeals be reversed in whole or in part. To resolve this matter, I now consider the items of relief
Page 463 U. S. 604
The District Court in the present case granted a number of relatively discrete items of relief. First, each class member was awarded constructive seniority, which included the right to: (1) "all monetary entitlements which [the class members] would have received had they been appointed on their constructive seniority date," including backpay and back medical and insurance benefits; and (2) all other entitlements relative to the award of constructive seniority, including salary, benefits, and pension rights. Also, respondents were directed to give a sergeant's examination to those class members whose
Page 463 U. S. 605
constructive seniority would have entitled them to take the last such examination. Finally, in an effort to insure that future hiring practices would be nondiscriminatory, respondents were ordered to consult with petitioners on the preparation and use of future police officer examinations for the next two years, and to provide petitioners with race and ethnicity information regarding the scores of the next scheduled examination. App. A99-A107. [Footnote 25]
"which determines pension rights, length of vacations, size of insurance coverage and unemployment benefits, and the like, is analogous to backpay. . . . Benefit-type seniority, like backpay, serves to work complete equity by penalizing the wrongdoer economically at the same time that it tends to make whole the
Page 463 U. S. 606
one who was wronged."
In view of the foregoing, it is apparent to me that the only proper Title VI relief granted by the District Court is the order directing the respondents to take actions and make disclosures intended to insure that future hiring practices will
Page 463 U. S. 607
be nondiscriminatory and valid. However, this relief is wholly sustainable under the District Court's findings and conclusions with respect to petitioners' Title VII claim, and all members of the class will fully benefit from it. [Footnote 26] There is thus no need to disturb the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
With reluctance, I write separately. The many opinions filed in this case draw lines that are not required by, and
Page 463 U. S. 608
indeed in some instances seem incompatible with, our prior decisions. Our opinions today will further confuse, rather than guide. [Footnote 2/1]
Congress, for reasons of its own, all too frequently elects to remain silent on the private right-of-action question. The
Page 463 U. S. 609
result frequently is uncertainty and litigation as to available remedies, leaving the courts to provide an answer without clear legislative guidance. We have recognized repeatedly that whether a private right of action may be implied requires a determination of congressional intent. See, e.g., Jackson Transit Authority v. Transit Union, 457 U. S. 15, 457 U. S. 20-23 (1982); Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington, 442 U. S. 560, 442 U. S. 568 (1979). We look, of course, to the legislative history, and in particular to what other remedies have been provided. See Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis, 444 U. S. 11, 444 U. S. 19 (1979) ("it is an elemental canon of statutory construction that, where a statute expressly provides a particular remedy or remedies, a court must be chary of reading others into it").
The legislative history of Title VI is replete with references to the Act's central purpose of ensuring that taxpayers' money be spent nondiscriminatorily. See ante at 463 U. S. 599 (opinion of WHITE, J.). In accord with this purpose, Congress expressly provided for perhaps the most effective of all remedies in a federal funding statute: the cutting off of funds. [Footnote 2/2] In addition, it created a carefully constructed administrative
Page 463 U. S. 610
procedure to ensure that such withholding of funds is ordered only where appropriate. In light of these factors, I do not believe that Congress intended to authorize private suits but failed to do so through some inadvertence. See also University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265, 438 U. S. 381 (1978) (opinion of WHITE, J.) ("[T]here is no express provision for private actions to enforce Title VI, and it would be quite incredible if Congress, after so carefully attending to the matter of private actions in other Titles of the Act, intended silently to create a private cause of action to enforce Title VI"). [Footnote 2/3] I would affirm the judgment below solely on this issue.
438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 287. JUSTICES
Page 463 U. S. 611
BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN undertook a thorough analysis of the legislative history in reaching the same conclusion. See id. at 438 U. S. 328-340. They concluded "that Title VI's definition of racial discrimination is absolutely coextensive with the Constitution's." Id. at 438 U. S. 352. This construction necessarily requires rejection of the prior decision in Lau v. Nichols, 414 U. S. 563 (1974), that discriminatory impact suffices to establish liability under Title VI. [Footnote 2/4] In my view, the Court of Appeals therefore was fully justified in holding that petitioners failed to establish their Title VI claims. [Footnote 2/5]
Page 463 U. S. 612
Were we construing Title VI without the benefit of any prior interpretation from this Court, one might well conclude that the statute was designed to redress more than purposeful discrimination. Cf. University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265, 438 U. S. 412-418 (1978) (opinion of STEVENS, J.). In Bakke, however, a majority of the Court concluded otherwise. Id. at 438 U. S. 287 (opinion of POWELL, J.); id. at 438 U. S. 328 (opinion of BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ.). Like JUSTICE STEVENS, post at 463 U. S. 641-642, I feel constrained by stare decisis to follow that interpretation of the statute. I part company with JUSTICE STEVENS' dissent, however, when it concludes that administrative regulations incorporating an "effects" standard may be upheld notwithstanding the
Page 463 U. S. 613
statute's proscription of intentional discrimination only. See post at 463 U. S. 642-645. Administrative regulations having the force of law may be set aside only if they exceed the statutory authority of the agency or are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Batterton v. Francis, 432 U. S. 416, 432 U. S. 426 (1977). JUSTICE STEVENS' dissent argues that agency regulations incorporating an "effects" standard reflect a reasonable method of "further[ing] the purposes of Title VI." Post at 463 U. S. 644. If, as five Members of the Court concluded in Bakke, the purpose of Title VI is to proscribe only purposeful discrimination in a program receiving federal financial assistance, it is difficult to fathom how the Court could uphold administrative regulations that would proscribe conduct by the recipient having only a discriminatory effect. Such regulations do not simply "further" the purpose of Title VI; they go well beyond that purpose.
The breadth of authority granted to Congress under the enabling provision of the Fifteenth Amendment is not equivalent to the amount of discretion that an administrative agency possesses in implementing the provisions of a federal
Page 463 U. S. 614
statute. [Footnote 3/2] An administrative agency is itself a creature of statute. Although the Court has stated that an agency's legislative regulations will be upheld if they are "reasonably related" to the purposes of the enabling statute, Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc., 411 U. S. 356, 411 U. S. 369 (1973),
Page 463 U. S. 615
we would expand considerably the discretion and power of agencies were we to interpret "reasonably related" to permit agencies to proscribe conduct that Congress did not intend to prohibit. "Reasonably related to" simply cannot mean "inconsistent with." Yet that would be the effect of upholding the administrative regulations at issue in this case if, as five Justices concluded in Bakke, the expressed will of Congress is that federal funds recipients are prohibited only from purposefully discriminating on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in the administration of funded programs.
"More importantly, Rule 10b-5 was adopted pursuant to authority granted the Commission under § 10(b). The rulemaking power granted to an administrative agency charged with the administration of a federal statute is not the power to make law. Rather, it is "the power to adopt regulations to carry into effect the will of Congress as expressed by the statute.'" Dixon v. United States, 381 U. S. 68, 381 U. S. 74 (1965), quoting Manhattan General Equipment Co. v. Commissioner, 297 U. S. 129, 297 U. S. 134 (1936). Thus, . . . [the Rule] cannot exceed the power granted the Commission by Congress under § 10(b)."
425 U.S. at 425 U. S. 212-214. See also Manhattan General Equipment Co. v. Commissioner, 297 U. S. 129, 297 U. S. 134 (1936) ("A regulation which does not [carry into effect the will of Congress as expressed by the statute], but operates to create a rule out of harmony with the statute, is a mere nullity"). Cf. FCC v. American Broadcasting Co., 347 U. S. 284, 347 U. S. 296 (1954) (agency cannot make illegal by regulation what is legal under the statute).
We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether proof of discriminatory intent is required to establish a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq. For the reasons outlined below, I agree with JUSTICE WHITE that proof of discriminatory animus should not be required. Unlike JUSTICE WHITE, however, I believe that compensatory relief may be awarded to private Title VI plaintiffs in the absence of proof of discriminatory animus. I would therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
Page 463 U. S. 616
In Lau v. Nichols, this Court held that the San Francisco school system had violated Title VI by failing to provide supplemental language instruction to children of Chinese ancestry who did not speak English. The plaintiffs in Lau did not show that the officials in charge of the school system had intended to discriminate against students of Chinese ancestry. See Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U. S. 448, 448 U. S. 479 (1980) (opinion of BURGER, C.J., joined by WHITE and POWELL, JJ.). Because the failure to provide supplemental instruction had a discriminatory impact, this Court nevertheless concluded that the school system had violated Title VI. Looking to departmental regulations for guidance, the Court emphasized that Title VI bars programs that have a discriminatory "effect even though no purposeful design is present." 414 U.S. at 414 U. S. 568 (emphasis in original).
Page 463 U. S. 617
If we were required to decide the issue presented by this case in the absence of a persuasive administrative interpretation of the statute, I would hold, in accordance with the view expressed in Bakke, that Title VI requires proof of discriminatory intent, even though this holding would entail overruling Lau v. Nichols. But the case comes to us against the background of administrative regulations that have uniformly and consistently interpreted the statute to prohibit
Page 463 U. S. 618
programs that have a discriminatory impact and that cannot be justified on nondiscriminatory grounds. As Justice Frankfurter once observed, the doctrine of stare decisis is not "an imprisonment of reason." United States v. International Boxing Club of New York, Inc., 348 U. S. 236, 348 U. S. 249 (1955) (dissenting opinion). The broad view expressed in Bakke, which was not necessary to the decision in that case, does not foreclose consideration of whether this longstanding administrative interpretation of the statute is a reasonable one which should be followed by this Court.
Shortly after the enactment of Title VI, a Presidential task force produced model Title VI enforcement regulations specifying that recipients of federal funds not use "criteria or methods of administration which have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination." 45 CFR § 80.3(b)(2) (1964) (emphasis added). [Footnote 4/3] The Justice Department, which had helped draft the language of Title VI, [Footnote 4/4] participated heavily in preparing the regulations. [Footnote 4/5] Seven federal agencies and departments carrying out the mandate of Title VI soon promulgated regulations that applied a disparate impact or "effects" test. See 29 Fed.Reg. 16274-16305 (1964). As a contemporaneous construction of a statute by those charged with setting the law in motion, these regulations deserve substantial respect in determining the meaning of Title VI. Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, 437 U. S. 443, 437 U. S. 450 (1978); Power Reactor Development Co. v. Electricians, 367 U. S. 396, 367 U. S. 408 (1961); Norwegian Nitrogen Products Co. v. United States, 288 U. S. 294, 288 U. S. 315 (1933). See also Zuber v. Allen, 396 U. S. 168, 396 U. S. 192 (1969) (interpretation of a statute by administrators who participated in drafting it carries "most weight"). When an administrative agency has exercised its judgment
Page 463 U. S. 619
with respect to an issue that is not clearly resolved by the language and purposes of the statute it is statutorily mandated to enforce, this Court will accord due consideration to the views of the agency. Indeed, in Bakke itself, the opinion of four Justices which I coauthored stressed that agency regulations authorizing, and in some cases requiring, affirmative action programs [Footnote 4/6] were "entitled to considerable deference in construing Title VI." 438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 342 (BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ.).
Following the initial promulgation of regulations adopting an impact standard, every Cabinet Department and about 40 federal agencies adopted standards interpreting Title VI to bar programs with a discriminatory impact. [Footnote 4/7] The statute has been uniformly and consistently so construed by the agencies responsible for its enforcement for nearly two decades. Our cases make clear that a longstanding and consistent administrative interpretation of a statute is entitled to special weight. NLRB v. Bell Aerospace Co., 416 U. S. 267, 416 U. S. 274-275 (1974); Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance
Page 463 U. S. 620
Co., 409 U. S. 205, 409 U. S. 210 (1972); United States v. Bergh, 352 U. S. 40, 352 U. S. 46-47 (1956).
It is also significant that this administrative interpretation of Title VI has never been altered by Congress, despite its awareness of the interpretation. In 1966, the House of Representatives defeated a proposal to alter Title VI to prohibit only intentional discrimination, and the proposal never emerged from committee in the Senate. [Footnote 4/8] In the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1969, Congress directed that guidelines and criteria established under Title VI dealing with de jure and de facto school segregation be applied uniformly across the country regardless of the origin or cause of such segregation. Pub.L. 91-230, § 2, 84 Stat. 121, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-6. Since the passage of the 1964 Act, Congress has also enacted 10 additional statutes modeled on § 601 of Title VI, none of which define discrimination to require proof of intent. [Footnote 4/9] Although caution must be exercised
Page 463 U. S. 621
when dealing with congressional inaction, we have recognized that it is appropriate to attribute significance to such inaction where an administrative interpretation "involves issues of considerable public controversy," United States v. Rutherford, 442 U. S. 544, 442 U. S. 554 (1979), and Congress has not acted to correct any misinterpretation of its objectives despite its continuing concern with the subject matter, ibid.
While not the only reasonable construction of the statute, the uniform administrative construction of Title VI is "far from unreasonable." Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, 437 U.S. at 437 U. S. 451. The Civil Rights Act was aimed at "eradicating significant areas of discrimination on a nationwide basis." H.R.Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 18 (1963). The "[m]ost glaring" problem was "the discrimination against Negroes which exists throughout our Nation." Ibid. Given that Title VI was meant to remedy past discrimination
Page 463 U. S. 622
against minorities, 438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 285 (POWELL, J.); id. at 438 U. S. 328 (BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ.), an "effects" test is a reasonable means of effectuating this goal. See City of Rome v. United States, 446 U. S. 156, 446 U. S. 177 (1980) (ban on electoral changes having a discriminatory impact is an appropriate method of enforcing prohibition against intentional discrimination). In addition, when the agencies first interpreted the statute in 1964, 12 years before Washington v. Davis, 426 U. S. 229 (1976), the equal protection standard could easily have been viewed as one of discriminatory impact. See, e.g., Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U. S. 773 (1964) (per curiam); Anderson v. Martin, 375 U. S. 399 (1964). [Footnote 4/10] Moreover, given the need for an objective and administrable standard applicable to thousands of federal grants under Title VI, the "effects" test is far more practical than a test that focuses on the motive of the recipient, which is typically very difficult to determine. [Footnote 4/11]
The legislative history of Title VI fully confirms that Congress intended to delegate to the Executive Branch substantial leeway in interpreting the meaning of discrimination under Title VI. See Abernathy, Title VI and the Constitution: A Regulatory Model for Defining "Discrimination," 70 Geo.L.J. 1, 20-39 (1981). The word "discrimination" was nowhere defined in Title VI. [Footnote 4/12] Instead, Congress authorized
Page 463 U. S. 623
executive departments and agencies to adopt regulations with the antidiscrimination principle of § 601 of the Act "as a general criterion to follow." Civil Rights: Hearings on H.R. 7152 before the House Committee on the Judiciary, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 2740 (1963) (testimony of Attorney General Kennedy). Congress willingly conceded "[g]reat powers" to the Executive Branch in defining the reach of the statute. Id. at 1520 (statement of Rep. Celler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee). [Footnote 4/13] Indeed, the significance of the administrative role in the statutory scheme is underscored by the fact that Congress required the President to approve all Title VI regulations. [Footnote 4/14]
In the face of a reasonable and contemporaneous administrative construction that has been consistently adhered to for nearly 20 years, originally permitted and subsequently acquiesced in by Congress, and expressly adopted by this Court in Lau, I would hold that Title VI bars practices that have a discriminatory impact and cannot be justified on legitimate grounds. [Footnote 4/15] I frankly concede that our reasoning in Bakke
Page 463 U. S. 624
was broader than it should have been. The statement that Title VI was "absolutely coextensive" with the Equal Protection Clause, 438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 352, was clearly superfluous to the decision in that case. Whatever the precise relationship between Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause may be, it would have been perverse to construe a statute designed to ameliorate the plight of the victims of racial discrimination to prohibit recipients of federal funds from voluntarily employing race-conscious measures to eliminate the effects of past societal discrimination. Id. at 438 U. S. 336-350, 353-355 (opinion of BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ.). [Footnote 4/16]
It is "well settled" that, where legal rights have been invaded, "federal courts may use any available remedy to make good the wrong done." Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678, 327 U. S. 684 (1946). See, e.g., Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, 396 U. S. 229, 396 U. S. 238-240 (1969); Steele v. Louisville & Nashville R.
Page 463 U. S. 625
Co., 323 U. S. 192, 323 U. S. 207 (1944) (courts have a "duty" to provide injunctive and damages remedies for violation of Railway Labor Act's command to represent union members without racial discrimination); Deckert v. Independence Shares Corp., 311 U. S. 282, 311 U. S. 288 (1940); Texas & N. O. R. Co. v. Railway Clerks, 281 U. S. 548, 281 U. S. 569-570 (1930). In accord with Bell v. Hood, the Court has previously found no merit in "the contention that such remedies are limited to prospective relief." J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, 377 U. S. 426, 377 U. S. 434 (1964). Cf. Schine Theatres v. United States, 334 U. S. 110, 334 U. S. 128 (1948) (Court "start[s] from the premise" that an injunction against future violations of a statute is inadequate). The use of all available judicial remedies, including compensatory relief, is no less appropriate to redress discrimination in violation of Title VI.
Denying private plaintiffs the right to recover compensatory relief for all violations involving programs with a discriminatory effect would frustrate the fundamental purpose of Title VI. Section 601 unequivocally creates victims'
Page 463 U. S. 626
rights. But a right without an effective remedy has little meaning. See Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, supra, at 396 U. S. 238. As President Kennedy stated in his 1963 Message to Congress on Civil Rights, "[t]he venerable code of equity law commands for every wrong, a remedy.'" H.R. Doc. No. 124, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 2 (1963). Noncompensatory relief, by its very nature, cannot "remedy" an injustice that has already occurred. A failure to correct adequately for individual violations depreciates the law, which was specifically intended to deal with "the injustices and humiliations of racial and other discrimination." H.R.Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 18 (1963).
Private retrospective relief also constitutes a "necessary supplement" to the administrative enforcement mechanism contained in Title VI. See J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, supra, at 377 U. S. 432. The statutory sanction of a fund cutoff cannot sufficiently ensure general compliance with the command of Title VI, because the sheer quantity of federal financial assistance programs makes Government enforcement alone impractical [Footnote 4/17] and because a fund cutoff is too Draconian to be widely
Page 463 U. S. 627
used. [Footnote 4/18] Retrospective liability for Title VI violations complements administrative enforcement by providing a more realistic deterrent against unlawful behavior. Moreover, the fund cutoff is no "remedy" at all for victims of past acts of discrimination, because it merely assures that other innocent individuals will also be denied the benefits of federal assistance. [Footnote 4/19] Regardless of the alternative administrative sanction, individual acts of discrimination still violate the law, and can be remedied only by compensatory relief. Restricting relief to prospective remedies can only encourage recipients acting in bad faith to make no effort to comply with the statute and to stall private litigants in the knowledge that justice delayed will be justice denied.
Porter v. Warner Co., 328 U. S. 395, 328 U. S. 398 (1946). See Mitchell v. Robert DeMario Jewelry, Inc., 361
Page 463 U. S. 628
U.S. 288, 361 U. S. 291-292 (1960). In enacting Title VI, Congress clearly did not choose to restrict relief to prospective or noncompensatory remedies. [Footnote 4/20]
JUSTICE WHITE attempts to justify the departure from well-established remedial principles by relying in large part on Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U. S. 1 (1981). See ante at 463 U. S. 596-597. Pennhurst involved the Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6000 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. V), a grant program through which the Federal Government provides funding to the States. The Court focused on § 111 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6010, which states various rights of persons with developmental disabilities. "Noticeably absent" from the provision was "any language suggesting that
Page 463 U. S. 629
§ 6010 is a condition' for the receipt of federal funding." 451 U.S. at 451 U. S. 13. This omission stood in stark contrast to other sections of the Act. Because receipt of federal funds was not conditioned on compliance with § 6010, the Court held that § 6010 imposed no enforceable rights or obligations. The Court analogized spending power legislation to a contract, stating that "if Congress intends to impose a condition on the grant of federal moneys, it must do so unambiguously." Id. at 451 U. S. 17. [Footnote 4/21]
The statutory mandate can hardly escape notice. Every application for federal financial assistance must, "as a condition to its approval and the extension of any Federal financial assistance," contain assurances that the program will comply with Title VI and with all requirements imposed pursuant to
Page 463 U. S. 630
the executive regulations issued under Title VI. [Footnote 4/22] In fact, applicants for federal assistance literally sign contracts in which they agree to comply with Title VI and to "immediately take any measures necessary" to do so. This assurance is given "in consideration of" federal aid, and the Federal Government extends assistance "in reliance on" the assurance of compliance. [Footnote 4/23] See 3 R. Cappalli, Federal Grants § 19:20, p. 57, and n. 12 (1982) (written assurances are merely a formality, because the statutory mandate applies and is enforceable apart from the text of any agreement).
The obligation to comply with § 601 does not place upon a recipient unanticipated burdens, because any recipient must anticipate having to comply with the law. Certainly no applicant has a legitimate expectation that he can evade the statutory obligation and the expense that compliance may entail. Indeed, in extending grants, the United States has always retained an inherent right to sue for enforcement of the recipient's obligation. [Footnote 4/24] All traditional judicial remedies can
Page 463 U. S. 631
be applied in such situations. [Footnote 4/25] This right to sue is equally applicable to Title VI. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000h-3. For example, in United States v. Marion County School Dist., 625 F.2d 607 (CA5 1980), the court concluded
Id. at 617. [Footnote 4/26]
Page 463 U. S. 632
Only by providing retrospective relief to private litigants can the courts fulfill the terms of the "contract" between the
Page 463 U. S. 633
Federal Government and recipients of federal financial assistance. In exchange for federal moneys, recipients have promised not to discriminate. Because Title VI is intended to ensure that "no person" is subject to discrimination in federally assisted programs, private parties function as third-party beneficiaries to these contracts. Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. at 414 U. S. 571, n. 2 (Stewart, J., concurring in result). See Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 304 (1981). When a court concludes that a recipient has breached its contract, it should enforce the broken promise by protecting the expectation that the recipient would not discriminate. See id., § 344, Comment a. The obvious way to do this is to put private parties in as good a position as they would have been had the contract been performed. This requires precisely the kind of make-whole remedy that JUSTICE WHITE rejects, see ante at 463 U. S. 602-603, despite his accurate characterization of Title VI as a "contractual' spending power provision," ante at 463 U. S. 599. [Footnote 4/28]
Page 463 U. S. 634
Page 463 U. S. 635
In the last five years, at least eight Members of this Court have endorsed the view that Title VI, as well as the comparable provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, may be enforced in a private action against recipients of federal funds, such as the respondents in this case. [Footnote 5/1] This
Page 463 U. S. 636
Court has authorized relief in at least four such cases. Lau v. Nichols, 414 U. S. 563 (1974); Hills v. Gautreaux, 425 U. S. 284 (1976); University of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265 (1978); Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677(1979).
Ante at 463 U. S. 602. That characterization seriously distorts the opinion of the Court in Pennhurst, which concerned the existence or nonexistence of statutory rights, not remedies. [Footnote 5/3]
Page 463 U. S. 637
We held that Congress will not be presumed to have created substantive legal obligations under the spending power by legislation so ambiguous that "a State is unaware of the conditions or is unable to ascertain what is expected of it." 451 U.S. at 451 U. S. 17. [Footnote 5/4] In dictum, [Footnote 5/5] we went on to speculate that an injunction requiring a State to provide "appropriate' treatment in the `least restrictive' environment" might be improper, noting that the Eleventh Amendment prohibits federal courts from requiring States to pay money damages. Id. at 451 U. S. 29-30. Without explaining why, JUSTICE WHITE divines a general principle of statutory interpretation from this discussion of the Eleventh Amendment. The Eleventh Amendment obviously has no relevance in most Title VI litigation; it certainly is not implicated in this suit against the
Page 463 U. S. 638
officials and agencies of the City of New York. I cannot fathom the supposition that Congress regularly analogizes to the Eleventh Amendment when it drafts spending power legislation. There is certainly nothing in the text or the legislative history of Title VI to suggest that the 1964 Congress did so.
The policy arguments JUSTICE WHITE advances in support of his position may be perfectly sound. There may well be situations in which one would fear that strict retroactive enforcement of a federal grant condition would discourage grant applications that are a high federal priority. [Footnote 5/7] These are,
Page 463 U. S. 639
however, arguments that should be addressed to Congress, rather than to a court, cf. Cannon, 441 U.S. at 441 U. S. 709-710, since Congress has already implicitly authorized the Federal Judiciary to award appropriate relief to private parties injured by violations of Title VI. Whether these petitioners are within that special class is, of course, another question to which I now turn.
Id. at 438 U. S. 328. [Footnote 5/8]
Page 463 U. S. 640
The interpretation of Title VI adopted by a majority in Bakke was confirmed in two subsequent opinions of the Court. In Steelworkers v. Weber, 443 U. S. 193, 443 U. S. 206, n. 6 (1979), the Court distinguished Title VII from Title VI on the basis that the former provision "was not intended to incorporate and particularize the commands of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments." [Footnote 5/10] And in Board of Education, New York City v. Harris, 444 U. S. 130 (1979), the Court first concluded that the 1972 Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA), 86 Stat. 354, contemplates funding cutoffs in response to
Page 463 U. S. 641
forms of discrimination that are not "discrimination in the Fourteenth Amendment sense." 444 U.S. at 444 U. S. 149. The Court then went on, in considered dictum, to distinguish the ESAA from Title VI:
The question to be decided today is not whether the Court has misread the actual intent of the Congress that enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For when the Court unequivocally rejects one reading of a statute, its action should be respected in future litigation. Compare United States v. Board of Comm'rs of Sheffield, Ala., 435 U. S. 110, 435 U. S. 140-150 (1978) (STEVENS, J., dissenting), with Dougherty County Board of Education v. White, 439 U. S. 32, 439 U. S. 47 (1978) (STEVENS, J., concurring), and City of Rome v. United States, 446 U. S. 156, 446 U. S. 191 (1980) (STEVENS, J., concurring). See also Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U. S. 160, 427 U. S. 189-192 (1976) (STEVENS, J., concurring). If a statute is to be amended after it has been authoritatively construed by this Court, that task should almost always be performed by Congress. [Footnote 5/12]
Page 463 U. S. 642
Title VI must therefore mean what this Court has said it means, regardless of what some of us may have thought it meant before this Court spoke. Today, proof of invidious purpose is a necessary component of a valid Title VI claim.
The respondent Police Department in this case sought, received, and expended federal grants to pay the salaries of policemen and to finance its recruitment programs. In order to obtain funds from the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, see App. A123, it was required to promise not only that it would comply with Title VI, but also that it would abide by departmental regulations implementing that statute. [Footnote 5/13] Ever since 1964, all three Departments have had virtually identical implementing regulations. Significantly, those regulations do more than merely prohibit grant recipients from administering the funds with a discriminatory purpose; they require recipients to administer the grants in a manner that has no racially discriminatory effects. [Footnote 5/14]
Page 463 U. S. 643
It is well settled that, when Congress explicitly authorizes an administrative agency to promulgate regulations implementing a federal statute that governs completely private conduct, those regulations have the force of law so long as they are "reasonably related to the purposes of the enabling legislation." Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc., 411 U. S. 356, 411 U. S. 369 (1973). See also Chrysler Corp. v. Brown, 441 U. S. 281, 441 U. S. 301-306 (1979); Batterton v. Francis, 432 U. S. 416, 432 U. S. 425, n. 9 (1977). See generally K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 7.8 (2d ed.1980 and Supp.1982). The presumption of validity must be at least as strong when a regulation does not seek to control the conduct of independent private parties, but merely defines the terms on which someone may seek federal money. By prohibiting grant recipients from adopting procedures that deny program benefits to members of any racial group, the administrative
Page 463 U. S. 644
agencies have acted in a reasonable manner to further the purposes of Title VI. [Footnote 5/16]
Since an "effects" standard is an appropriate means for Congress to implement a constitutional prohibition against discrimination, an "effects" regulation is an equally appropriate
Page 463 U. S. 645
means for an administrative agency to implement a comparable statutory prohibition. [Footnote 5/17]
"(6) The grant will be conducted and administered in compliance with:"
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