This Day in History: 1964-12-14

WASHINGTON DC: The Supreme Court decides that the Civil Rights Act is constitutional and that segregation of restaurants and lodging houses is therefore illegal. The owners of businesses in the American south had argued that the Act, which relied on Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the constitution, which prevents commerce between the states of the US from being interfered with by the states, did not apply because the businesses in question were local. The Court found that the trade was open to more than locals, and thus was interstate trade; even if not, the goods and services sold were procured from other states, so the Commerce Clause stands anyway