Today in Supreme Court History: December 14, 1964

12/14/1964: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. and Katzenbach v. McClung are decided.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Katzenback v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 and Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (both decided December 14, 1964): Congress had Commerce Clause power to prohibit racial discrimination in restaurants (Katzenbach) and public accommodations (Heart of Atlanta Motel) because interstate commerce involved

Texas v. New Mexico, 592 U.S. 98 (decided December 14, 2020): another original jurisdiction case involving water rights; here, the Court gives New Mexico credit for Texas water that evaporated while being stored in New Mexico at Texas’s request (mixing it with Tequila would have prevented that)

NYNEX Corp. v. Discon Inc., 525 U.S. 128 (decided December 14, 1998): buyer’s economically irrational decision to not buy from a certain seller (of services to remove outdated telephone equipment) is not per se antitrust violation under “group boycott” rule (e.g., refusal of group of buyers to buy from those who also sell to a certain other buyer)

[Dr. Ed 2]

" (mixing it with Tequila would have prevented that)"

Actually no -- alcohol would have increased the vapor pressure and made it evaporate faster. Remember that rubbing alcohol is something like 40% water.

[Abdul Abulbul Amir]

Are you sure? The alcohol would evaporate first cooling the water.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Good question. Distillation involves boiling temperatures which isn't what you are doing here. Memory is that the two molecules stick together somehow and what that does to a phase change, I don't know. I do know that straight auto antifreeze will freeze at about 30 degrees warmer than a 50/50 mix will.

[John F. Carr]

Search terms: "Water ethanol phase diagram", "eutectic", "azeotrope".

[Drewski]

"mixing it with Tequila would have prevented that"

The problem is finding a big enough worm. If Texas doesn't have one then nobody does.

[David Nieporent]

Australia probably does. Have you seen their spiders?

[Drewski]

Did you know that over the past 45 years more people in Australia have been killed by chickens than spiders? The score is one to zero.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Heart of Atlanta was different in that it catered to travelers and hence interstate commerce, but I always felt that Katzenback was wrongly decided.

There was no evidence presented that his *customers* had crossed a state line to get there, or even crossed a state line at all, and memory is that most of his business was local. And he'd sell to Blacks, just not let them use his dining room -- so how did that impact the Interstate Commerce of catsup?

The court had it's conclusion that racism was wrong (not one I disagree with) but I don't like the precedent of deciding a case on the outcome and then making up an excuse for the decision, which is what I think they did.

[Brett Bellmore]

Under the original understanding of interstate commerce, Heart of Atlanta wasn't engaged in it; The fact that their customers might be from other states didn't matter, the transaction was still local. Interstate commerce was buying stuff in one state, and selling it in another, not buying and selling in one state, but with some of the customers having crossed a state line.

[Malika the Maiz]

Seems pretty untenable. What about services (a lawyer that travelled state to state)? Or performances (the Eras tour)? Exhibitions (a National League base game)? Sure seems like interstate economic activity.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Wouldn't the lawyer have to be licensed in that state?

[Malika the Maiz]

Lawyers can now be licensed in more than one state and there were less of those kinds of requirements historically.

[Dr. Ed 2]

No -- at least not today.

When I go down to DC, I reserve and pay for my hotel room before I leave, and even if I only did it by telephone (which I could) that still is a phone call from Massachusetts going through something like seven intermediary states. And when I do it on line, a few packets could go through Wyoming, it's how the internet works.

I walk in with a confirmation number, and have been damn glad I did on one occasion.

But did people do this in the 1960s? Were there even bank issued credit cards (e.g. MasterCharge & BankAmericaCard/Visa) -- didn't those come out in the 1970s?

But if I am ordering and paying for something located in Virginia while in Massachusetts, that IS interstate commerce. And then using a credit card with a legal residence of ND or DE, even moreso...

[Noscitur a sociis]

What is your basis for that statement?

[Noscitur a sociis]

I always felt that Katzenback was wrongly decided.

Shocking.

The court had it's conclusion that racism was wrong (not one I disagree with)

[citation needed]

[Drewski]

"There was no evidence presented that his *customers* had crossed a state line to get there, or even crossed a state line at all, and memory is that most of his business was local."

This is of course a standard-quality Ed fact. The Heart of Atlanta stipulated specifically that it had significant business from out of state.

[Noscitur a sociis]

I believe Dr. Ed is speaking about Katzenbach and Olllie’s Barbecue, not Heart of Atlanta.

But of course, Dr. Ed selected for his specific objection one that the court specifically answered.

[not guilty]

From Justice Clark's opinion of the Court in McClung:

In the 12 months preceding the passage of the Act, the restaurant purchased locally approximately $150,000 worth of food, $69,683 or 46% of which was meat that it bought from a local supplier who had procured it from outside the State. The District Court expressly found that a substantial portion of the food served in the restaurant had moved in interstate commerce.

379 U.S. 294, 296-297 (1964).

I suspect that I am one of the few commenters here who can remember seeing "Whites Only" signs posted in retail establishments. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 facilitated the abolition of Jim Crow, which in the aggregate had an enormous impact on interstate commerce -- it brought the American South into the economic mainstream. Perhaps the only thing since Reconstruction which has had a greater impact on the economy of the South is air conditioning.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I do remember, living in the South in 1980, "Colored" and "White" above bathroom doors, though by that time it had no legal force.

Some time later, I again saw "Colored" and "White" distinctions, but it was for bins of paper for recycling. Indeed white paper was recycled differently than paper that had color in it (it was a different thickness). I only passed by there once, but how did they handle that difficult situation?

Some time even later, in New York, a black immigrant named Abner Louima was sodomized by white police officers with a toiler plunger. It was big news. At that time we were living in the Bronx and our toilet was plugged up, and I went to the local hardware store to buy a plunger. It was a long line to the register and I was the only white person in the place. Somehow I felt like I had to explain myself -- though fortunately I said nothing. Awkward!

[bernard11]

I suspect that I am one of the few commenters here who can remember seeing "Whites Only" signs posted in retail establishments.

Maybe, but I am another.

A few blocks from my well-equipped, well-funded, all white, suburban high school was a poorly maintained high school for Blacks. I can't speak to the quality of that school, but IIRC they weren't sending many graduates off to prestigious, or even respectable, universities.

[Dan Schiavetta]

In Con Law class my prof, discussing the restaurant case, talked about how the tomatoes might have come from out of state, or the potatoes. I said, “Isn’t this kind of ridiculous?” He said, “the Court was using any kind of argument to get to the result it wanted.”

[Brett Bellmore]

Precisely. That "moved in interstate commerce" is just a sophistry to render the words after "to regulate" moot. Along with all the talk about affects, and in aggregate.

In the early to mid 20th century, centralized state planning was a word-wide fad, people running governments thought it was the future, and were turning hostile to free markets. So FDR finally prevailed in getting the Court to render moot all the constitutional provisions that stood in the way of central planning.

[Sarcastr0]

“ The District Court expressly found that a substantial portion of the food served in the restaurant had moved in interstate commerce.”

You don’t like it, but you need to support your argument.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Shocking, totally unexpected news: Crystal Mangum admits she lied about the Duke Lacrosse players raping her.

She was interviewed from prison, where she's serving time for killing her boyfriend.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/crystal-mangum-who-accused-duke-lacrosse-players-of-rape-says-she-testified-falsely-against-them/ar-AA1vOxYZ

[Commenter_XY]

Since I live in Drone Central (the entire state of NJ).

Suppose an uninvited drone flies low over my farm (<50 feet altitude) and I exercise my 2A right to take a shot at the uninvited drone.

Legal?

[Dan Schiavetta]

It has happened. I did a Continuing Legal Education training on the topic of drones.

Boggs v. Meredith, 3:16-cv-00006 (W.D. Ky. 2017): defendant, noticing plaintiff’s drone flying over his property, took it down with a shotgun. Plaintiff sued for damage to the drone. The court dismissed for lack of federal jurisdiction, holding that private drones were not subject to FAA regulations. It seems that an unobtrusive drone, out of shotgun range and with its flame-throwers disabled, would not implicate the FAA. -- but in state court, there might be a tort based on nuisance or trespass. There was no 2A issue raised in Boggs, but that was before the 2A was greatly expanded in cases like Bruen.

[Commenter_XY]

Dan...thanks for that. I want to raise the topic in the Monday Mashup. It is on my mind, and I wonder if I could actually take one down (legally).

[Brett Bellmore]

We were actually discussing this at work a few days ago, as my supervisor has had largish drones buzzing his house out in the country lately. Showed us some phone video of them.

Naturally the topic turned to the best gun to take them down with. He thought bird shot wouldn't get the job done; I think he's overestimating how tough drones are.

[ducksalad]

Kind of have this mental picture of a "farm" in New Jersey being about 4 acres.

In which case there's a tradeoff. If the drone's not directly over where you're standing, there's a danger of the pellets landing on the neighbors, definitely not legal. If the drone is directly overhead, there's a danger of the pellets (and drone pieces) landing back on you.

Also, there are reliable reports from congressional offices that the drones come from an Iranian mothership. In which case it's full of electronics and batteries that don't comply with US and NJ environmental standards, and when it comes down your whole contaminated "farm" will be seized by the NJDEP and you'll have to pay your life savings into the Superfund.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/n-j-congressman-doubles-down-on-theory-drones-are-coming-from-iran/ar-AA1vLoOB?ocid=BingNewsSerp

(Tell the truth....did you vote for this guy?)

[Commenter_XY]

The truth: I do not live in District 2 and therefore I did not vote for Cong Jeff Van Drew.

You might be surprised at the number of 100-200 acre farms. It is the Garden State.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Chicago's motto is "urbs in horto," or "city in a garden." To be fair, they have a lot of parks.