William O. Douglas

Name: Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence
Author: William O. Douglas

Summary

“Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence”, is a work by William O. Douglas. It explores elements such as segregation of the races, public facilities and restaurants.

Quotes from Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence (William O. Douglas)

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ I do not believe that a State that licenses a business can license it to serve only whites or only blacks or only yellows or only browns. Race is an impermissible classification when it comes to parks or other municipal facilities by reason of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By the same token, I do not see how a State can constitutionally exercise its licensing power over business either in terms or in effect to segregate the races in the licensed premises. The authority to license a business for public use is derived from the public. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ But one who operates an enterprise under a license from the government enjoys a privilege that derives from the people. Whether retail stores, not licensed by the municipality, stand on a different footing is not presented here. But the necessity of a license shows that the public has rights in respect to those premises. The business is not a matter of mere private concern. Those who license enterprises for public use should not have under our Constitution the power to license it for the use of only one race. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ It is my view that a State may not constitutionally enforce a policy of segregation in restaurant facilities. Some of the argument assumed that restaurants are 'private' property in the sense that one's home is 'private' property. They are, of course, 'private' property for many purposes of the Constitution. Yet so are street railways, power plants, warehouses, and other types of enterprises which have long been held to be affected with a public interest. Where constitutional rights are involved, the proprietary interests of individuals must give way. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ Negroes are as much a part of that public as are whites. A municipality granting a license to operate a business for the public represents Negroes as well as all other races who live there. A license to establish a restaurant is a license to establish a public facility and necessarily imports, in law, equality of use for all members of the public. I see no way whereby licenses issued by a State to serve the public can be distinguished from leases of public facilities (Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, supra) for that end.
One can close the doors of his home to anyone he desires. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ State regulation of private enterprise that results in impairment of other constitutional rights should stand on no firmer footing, at least in the area where facilities of a public nature are involved. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ While the concept of a business 'affected with a public interest' normally is used as a measure of a State's police power over it, it also has other consequences. A State may not require segregation of the races in conventional public utilities any more than it can segregate them in ordinary public facilities. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ Though there may have been no state law or municipal ordinance that in terms required segregation of the races in restaurants, it is plain that the proprietors in the instant cases were segregating blacks from whites pursuant to Louisiana's custom. Segregation is basic to the structure of Louisiana as a community; the custom that maintains it is at least as powerful as any law. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ And all public parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, community centers and 'other such facilities at which swimming, dancing, golfing, skating or other recreational activities are conducted' must be segregated. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence

“ The examples cover a wide range from price control to prohibition of certain types of business. Id., at 525-529, 54 S.Ct. at 510-512. Various systems or devices designed by States or municipalities to protect the wholesomeness of food in the interests of health are deep-seated as any exercise of the police power. ”

William O. Douglas

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Quotes from Garner v. Louisiana — Concurrence (William O. Douglas)

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