<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> United States Supreme Court cases </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964) Katzenbach v. McClung (1964) Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969) Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) Ricci v. DeStefano (2009) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88--352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin . It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations . </P> <P> Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years . Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8), its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment and its duty to protect voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment . </P>

Legislation to prohibit segregation in all public accommodations was