U.S. Supreme Court Rules Restrictive Real Estate Covenants May Not Be Enforced by Courts

The Supreme Court, in a six to aero decision, ruled that neither Federal nor State courts can enforce restrictive covenants against the use pr occupancy of real property on the grounds of race or color. The court did not rule that the covenants in themselves are unconstitutional, only at enforcement toy the courts of privately agreed-upon covenants violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws contained in the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson wrote the two opinions, covering four restrictive covenant cases, that were handed down today. The four cases covered Included in the District of Columbia, and one each in St. Louis and Detroit. All four i8es covered property covenanted against use or occupancy "by Negroes. Justice Vinson was Joined toy Justices Hugo L. Black, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy and Harold H. Burton.

On the question 6f whether the covenants themselves can toe ruled unconstitutional, the Court’s opinion pointed out that the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to such action as may toe taken toy the states. The Fourteenth Amendment "erects no shield against merely private conduct, however discriminatory or wrongful." It added: "We conclude, therefore, that the restrictive agreements standing alone cannot be regarded as a violation of any rights guaranteed to petitioners by the Fourteenth Amendment. So long as the purposes of those agreements are effectuated by voluntary adherence to their terms, it would appear clear that there has "been no action toy the state and the provisions of the Amendment have not been violated."

A number of prominent Jewish organizations were among the 30-odd groups that filed amicus curiae briefs with the Court in the covenant cases. These included the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish War Veterans, and the Jewish Labor Committee. The U.S. Government also filed a "brief calling the covenants "against the law, against the Constitution, and against the public policy of the United States."

Dr. Stephen S. Wise, president of the American Jewish Congress, declared: "The decision of the Supreme Court knocks out the most important prop of the ghetto system which has increasingly disgraced and disfigured most of our American communities and which un-American forces in our midst are seeking to maintain. It clearly establishes that our courts will not let themselves toe used to perpetuate racial barriers which divide Americans and which help to breed prejudice."