As defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed.), Civil Rights Acts are “several federal statutes enacted after the Civil War (1861–1865) and, much later, during and after the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and intended to implement and give further force to the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and especially prohibiting discrimination in EMPLOYMENT and education on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, or age.” The Civil Rights Acts, which are often called the most important U.S. laws on civil rights since Reconstruction, were a highly controversial issue in the United States when President John F. Kennedy proposed them. Although Kennedy was unable to secure passage of the bill in Congress, a stronger version was eventually passed by his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the first bill into law in July 1964. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s resulted in some of the most significant civil-rights ruling and legislation in U.S. history. There had already been many civilrights court cases tried in state and federal courts by mid-century, but the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954) set the tone for new legislation by directly challenging the “separate but equal” principle established by the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. In Plessy the Supreme Court had authorized separate facilities for blacks and whites as long as the facilities were equal. In the Brown decision, the Court challenged the earlier ruling by declaring that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Beyond crucial court decisions like Brown, the Civil Rights movement also resulted in and benefited from new legislation in the 1960s that expanded the social and political rights of minorities and women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in public facilities and schools on the basis of race, religion, or national origin and mandated equal opportunities for all workers irrespective of race, religion, national origin, or gender. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the right to vote for all citizens who were qualified by age, thus striking down literacy requirements that had been used effectively to disenfranchise many blacks. Three years later the Civil Rights Act of 1968 outlawed racial discrimination in housing and jury selection. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 contained specific titles with specific applications. Title I of the act guaranteed equal voting rights by removing registration requirements and procedures biased against minorities and the underprivileged. Title II prohibited segregation or discrimination in places of public accommodation involved in interstate commerce. Title III banned discrimination by trade UNIONs, schools, or employers involved in interstate commerce or doing business with the federal government. This section also applied to discrimination on the basis of sex and established a government agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to enforce the provisions. Title IV called for the desegregation of public schools. Title V broadened the duties of the Civil Rights Commission. Title VI assured nondiscrimination in the distribution of funds under federally assisted programs. Title VII prohibited employment decisions based on stereotypes and assumptions about abilities, traits, or the performance of individuals of certain racial groups. Title VII also prohibited both intentional discrimination and neutral job policies that disproportionately exclude minorities or are not jobrelated. Title 28 of the U.S. Code Sec. 1343, Civil rights and elective franchise, states that “the district courts shall have original jurisdiction over any civil action authorized by law to be commenced by any person (1) to recover DAMAGES for injury to his person or property, or because of the deprivation of any right or privilege of a citizen of the United States, by any act done in furtherance of any conspiracy mentioned in section 1985 of Title 42; (2) to recover damages from any person who fails to prevent or to aid in preventing any wrongs mentioned in section 1985 of Title 42 which he had knowledge were about to occur and power to prevent; (3) to redress the deprivation, under color of any state, law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of any right, privilege or immunity secured by the Constitution of the United States or by any Act of Congress providing for equal rights of citizens or of all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States; (4) to recover damages or to secure equitable or other relief under any Act of Congress providing for the protection of civil rights, including the right to vote.” Joi Patrice Jones