Supreme Court upholds Civil Rights Act in Heart of Atlanta Motel

The Supreme Court rules in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States on December 14, 1964, upholding Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The motel had refused to rent rooms to Black guests and challenged Congress's power to ban discrimination in public accommodations. The Court holds that Congress can use its commerce power to prohibit racial discrimination by businesses that affect interstate commerce. The decision gives immediate legal force to the new civil rights law. The Court backs federal power to dismantle segregated public accommodations after decades of private racial exclusion.