Existing comment:
Legal Timeline
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Beyond: 1964–2014
1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and employment; authorized the attorney general to bring school desegregation suits and the federal government to withdraw funds from schools and other governmental entities receiving federal funds if they discriminated; and provided enhanced enforcement mechanisms for protecting civil and voting rights
1964: Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution eliminated poll taxes in federal elections
1965: Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforced the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and provided for substantial federal supervision of voting and election procedures in order to eliminate racial discrimination and protect the right to vote
1965: Older Americans Act of 1965 provided assistance in the development of new or improved programs to help older persons through grants to the states for community planning and services and for training through research, development, or training project grants -- and to establish within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare an operating agency to be designated as the Administration on Aging
1965: Medicare Act provided a hospital insurance program for the aged under the Social Security Act with a supplementary medical benefits program and an expanded program of medical assistance to increase benefits under the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance System and improved the federal-state public assistance programs
1965: Act to Amend the Vocational Rehabilitation Act assisted in providing more flexibility in the financing and administration of state rehabilitation programs and expanded and improved services and facilities provided under such programs, particularly for the mentally disabled
1965: Executive Order 11246 authorized federal agencies to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Johnson)
1966: Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections found Virginia's poll tax unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, making poll taxes illegal for state and federal elections
1966: Executive Order 11375 added sex discrimination to the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as required by Executive Order 11246 (Johnson)
1967: Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibited arbitrary age discrimination in employment and helped employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment
1968: Civil Rights Act of 1968 provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin and made it a federal crime to injure or intimidate anyone because of their race, color, religion, or national origin
1968: Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (Missouri) prohibited purely private discrimination in the sale or rental of property
1968: Green et. al. v. County School Board of New Kent County (Virginia) reversed the decision of the Virginia Court of Appeals that supported separate schools for whites and blacks
1969: Executive Order 11478 required equal opportunity and affirmative action programs in all federal agencies (Nixon)
1972: The Equal Opportunity Act amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to apply to local, state, and federal governments and allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to bring suits itself
1973: Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability in federal programs, federal contractors, programs receiving federal money, and federal employment
1973: Keyes v. Denver School District (Colorado) distinguished between de jure (sanctioned by law) and de facto (true in fact but not officially sanctioned) school segregation
1973: San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (Texas) held that there was no constitutional violation in unequal school funding and ruled that education is not a fundamental right
1973: Milliken v. Bradley (Michigan) found that de jure segregation in one school district could not justify busing children to and from surrounding school districts
1975: Education for All Handicapped Children Act required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal per day for children with physical and mental disabilities
1975: Age Discrimination Act of 1975 amended the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish social services programs for older Americans to extend the authorizations of appropriations contained in such act, and to prohibit discrimination on the basis of age
1976: Hills v. Gautreau (Illinois) determined that HUD had provided financial assistance to the Chicago Housing Authority, which had used the funds in a racially discriminatory way, violating Title VI and the 5th Amendment; HUD's violation authorized the judiciary to require a remedy that extended beyond the city of Chicago
1978: Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibited employment discrimination against female workers who are (or intend to become) pregnant, including discrimination in hiring, failure to promote, and wrongful termination after the Supreme Court held in 1974 that pregnancy discrimination was not a form of sex discrimination
1978: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (California) determined that college admission standards giving preferential consideration to minority applicants are constitutional
1990: Americans with Disabilities Act established a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability
1991: Civil Rights Act of 1991 superseded several narrowing U.S. Supreme Court civil rights decisions and granted women and disabled persons the right to recover money damages under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
1993: "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted gay, lesbian, or bisexual service members or applicants while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual Americans from military service
1993: Family and Medical Leave Act gave employees the right to take (unpaid) time off from work in order to care for a newborn or recently adopted child or to look after an ill family member
2009: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 clarified that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practices and thereby extends the time in which an employee can bring a lawsuit
2010: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 allowed openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans to serve without discrimination in the armed forces
2013: United States v. Windsor (New York) determined the Defense of Marriage Act's definition of "marriage" and "spouse" as limited to heterosexual unions unconstitutional, thus enabling same-sex couples to receive federal benefits
2013: Shelby County v. Holder (Alabama) invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which provided for preclearance for any change to voting rules in particular jurisdictions
2014: Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action upheld a Michigan referendum banning affirmative action in admissions at publicly funded state colleges. |