A year-end survey by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith disclosed that 29 states adopted laws improving the protection of civil rights during 1969. The results of the survey were published in “Law,” an ADL publication. The number of states passing protective laws was down 13 since 1967, the last year in which nearly all legislatures met for general business. This was attributed to the fact that “most states in which one can realistically expect enactment of such laws have already taken action,” the publication said. A majority of the laws passed in 1969 strengthened existing legislation against discrimination.
The survey found, however, that fair housing legislation still lags well behind existing enactments against other types of discrimination. Five states–Delaware, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico and Washington–passed fair housing laws in 1969 bringing the total up to 26 states. There are 37 states with laws against discrimination in employment and 38 that have laws against discrimination in places of public accommodation. “Law” is edited by Sol Rabkin, director of the ADL’s law department and Paul Hartman, associate director. The report noted that Indiana, Minnesota and New York added to their fair housing laws last year a prohibition against “blockbusting.” A similar law was enacted by Illinois which still has no fair housing law. Maine was reported to be the first state to pass a law dealing with discrimination by private clubs which hold state liquor licenses.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
