Today in Supreme Court History: October 15

Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (decided October 15, 1883): strikes down federal statute prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations; Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments apply only to governmental action, not private action (here, refusal to allow black people to take rooms at an inn, seats at an opera, and to get onto “ladies’ car” reserved for whites on train) (according to Westlaw, this case was never explicitly overruled, with the first recognition of it no longer being good law being made only recently, by a Maine court, in June 2022)

Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (decided October 15, 1968): strikes down on Equal Protection grounds Ohio statutes making it “nearly impossible” for third parties to get onto ballot

Frese v. Chicago, B. & Q. RR. Co., 263 U.S. 1 (decided October 15, 1923): widow of engineer could not sue under Federal Employers’ Liability Act after train crash; though both engineers complied with statute requiring them to stop before an intersection, they were too far away and immediate view was obstructed; no evidence of employer (i.e., employer’s employee) negligence -- stoker was standing on other side of train where there was a better view but no evidence he was negligent in failing to warn of oncoming train because pure speculation that he was looking toward the intersection