The Nation - News from June 24, 1988

In briefs signed by more than half of the U.S. Senate, 47 of the 50 state attorneys general, the American Bar Assn. and a host of civil rights organizations, the Supreme Court is being urged to uphold a key 1976 ruling that said that federal civil rights laws forbid racial discrimination in private as well as public institutions. Two months ago, in a surprise move, the justices on a 5-4 vote announced they would “reconsider” the ruling in connection with a pending discrimination case. The justices said they thought the ruling might have been based on a misreading of the applicable law, but the briefs signed by at least 59 senators and more than 100 congressmen maintained that the court was right in the first place and that the ruling should not be changed. A decision is expected this year.