Opinion ID: 381246
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Civil Rights Enforcement

Text: 3 The guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment proved elusive for nearly a century. Two effective litigative strategies finally bore fruit in the 1950's. First, Brown v. Board of Education, 6 held that the Constitution demands the dismantling of dual school systems, intentionally segregated by race. Second, Cooper v. Aaron 7 and related cases barred governmental support of unconstitutionally discriminatory institutions. 4 Both concepts were incorporated in the first sweeping federal commitment to civil rights enforcement, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (the Act). 8 Title VI of the Act prohibits discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin under any program receiving federal financial assistance. 9 Each federal department can ensure compliance by 1) refusing financial assistance to any recipient found violating the prohibition after a finding on the record, with an opportunity for a hearing; or 2) by any other means authorized by law. 10 The Act specifically provides that enforcement efforts should not begin until the noncomplying party has been notified and given an opportunity to comply voluntarily. 11 Thus the Act permits the Executive to avoid providing support to noncomplying public school districts, and to use the threat of fund-termination to persuade or induce recipients to dismantle vestiges of segregation.