Court Opinion

ID: 9422177
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:01:33.049948+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:34.686269
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Harlan,
whom Mr. Justice Whittaker joins,
dissenting.
The Court’s opinion, by a process of first undiscrimi-natingly throwing together various factual bits and pieces and then undermining the resulting structure by an equally vague disclaimer, seems to me to leave completely at sea just what it is in this record that satisfies the requirement of “state action.”
*729I find it unnecessary, however, to inquire into the matter at this stage, for it seems to me apparent that before passing on the far-reaching constitutional questions that may; or may not, be lurking in this judgment, the case should first be sent back to the state court for clarification as to the precise basis of its decision. In deciding this case the Delaware Supreme Court, among other things, said:
“It [Eagle] acts as a restaurant keeper and, as such, is not required to serve any and all persons entering its place of business, any more than the operator of a bookstore, barber shop, or other retail business is required to sell its product to every one. This is the common law, and the law of Delaware as restated in 24 Del. C. § 1501 with respect to restaurant keepers. 10 Am. Jur., Civil Rights, §§ 21,22; 52 Am. Jur., Theatres, § 9; Williams v. Howard Johnson’s Restaurant, 4 cir., 268 F. 2d 845. We, accordingly, hold that the operation of its restaurant by Eagle does not fall within the scope of the prohibitions of the Fourteenth Amendment.” * - Del. -, -, 157 A. 2d 894, 902.
If in the context of this record this means, as my Brother Stewart suggests, that the Delaware court construed this state statute “as authorizing discriminatory classification based exclusively on color,” I would certainly agree, without more, that the enactment is offensive to the Fourteenth Amendment. It would then be quite *730unnecessary to reach the much broader questions dealt with in the Court’s opinion. If, on the other hand, the state court meant no more than that under the statute, as at common law, Eagle was free to serve only those whom it pleased, then, and only then, would the question of “state action” be presented in full-blown form.
I think that sound principles of constitutional adjudication dictate that we should first ascertain the exact basis of this state judgment, and for that purpose I would either remand the case to the Delaware Supreme Court, see Musser v. Utah, 333 U. S. 95; cf. Harrison v.N. A. A. C. P., 360 U. S. 167, or hold the case pending application to the state court for clarification. See Herb v. Pitcairn, 324 U. S. 117. It seems to me both unnecessary and unwise to reach issues of such broad constitutional significance as those now decided by the Court, before the necessity for deciding them has become apparent.

24 Del. Code, § 1501, reads as follows:
“No keeper of an inn, tavern, hotel, or restaurant, or other place of public entertainment .or refreshment of travelers, guests, or customers shall be obliged, by law, to furnish entertainment or refresh-' ment to persons whose reception or entertainment by him would be offensive to the major part of his customers, and would injure his business.”-