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1970s
1970: Ali v. The Division of State Athletic Commission restored Muhammad Ali's
boxing license.
1970: Carter v. Jury Commission approved federal suits over discrimination in
the selection of juries.
1970: Turner v. Fouche overruled a requirement in Taliaferro County, Georgia
that grand jury and school board membership be limited to owners of real
property.
1971: Kennedy-Park Homes Association v. City of Lackawanna forbade a city
government from interfering in the construction of low-income housing in a
predominantly white section of the city.
1971: Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education upheld forced busing to
desegregate public schools. However, this matter would continue in the courts
for three more decades; in the most recent as of 2004 related cases, the U.S.
Supreme Court in April 2002 refused to review Cappachione v.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and Belk v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board
of Education, in which lower courts had ruled in favor of the school disctrict.
1971: Haines v. Kerner upheld the right of prisoners to challenge prison
conditions in federal court.
1971: Groppi v. Wisconsin upheld the right of a criminal defendant in a
misdemeanor case to a venue where jurors are not biased against him.
1971: Clay v. United States struck down Muhammad Ali's conviction for refusing
to report for military service.
1971: Griggs v. Duke Power Company[2] ruled that tests for employment or
promotion that produce different outcomes for blacks and whites are prima facie
to be presumed discriminatory, and must measure aptitude for the job in question
or they cannot be used.
1971: Phillips v. Martin Marietta ruled that employers may not refuse to hire
women with preschool-aged children unless the same standards are applied to men.
1972: Furman v. Georgia ruled that the death penalty as then applied in 37
states violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment
because there are inadequate standards to guide judges and juries making the
decision which defendants will receive a sentence of death. However, under
revised laws, U.S. executions resumed in 1977.
1972: Wright v. Council of the City of Emporia and U.S. v. Scotland Neck City
Board of Education ruled against avoiding public school desegregation by the
creation of all-white "splinter districts".
1972: Alexander v. Louisiana accepted the use of statistical evidence to prove
racial discrimination in the selection of juries.
1972: Hawkins v. Town of Shaw banned discrimination in the provision of
municipal facilities.
1973: Norwood v. Harrison banned government provision of school books to
segregated private schools established to allow whites to avoid public school
desegregation.
1973: Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver addressed deliberate de facto
school segregation, ruling that where deliberate segregation was shown to have
affected a substantial part of a school system, the entire district must
ordinarily be desegregated.
1973: Adams v. Richardson required federal education officials to enforce Title
VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires that state universities, public
schools, and other institutions that receive federal money may not discriminate
by race.
1973: Ham v. South Carolina ruled that defendants are entitled to have potential
jurors interrogated about whether they harbor racial prejudices.
1973: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green ruled that courts should hear cases of
alleged unlawful discrimination based on the "minimal showing" that a qualified
non-white applied unsuccessfully for a job that either remained open or was
filled by a white person.
1973: Mourning v. Family Publication Service upheld the Truth in Lending Act,
requiring disclosure of the actual cost of a loan.
1975: Albemarle v. Moody mandated back pay for victims of job discrimination.
1975: Johnson v. Railway Express Agency upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1866,
passed during Reconstruction, as providing an independent remedy for employment
discrimination.
1977: Coker v. Georgia banned capital punishment for rape, the most racially
disproportionate application of the death penalty.
1977: United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh v. Carey provided that states
may consider race in drawing electoral districts if necessary to comply with the
Voting Rights Act by avoiding a dilution of minority voting strength.
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