Civil Rights Act

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Several United States laws have been called a Civil Rights Act:

• Civil Rights Act of 1866 aimed to buttress Civil Rights Laws to protect freedmen and to grant full citizenship to those born on U.S. soil except Indians. While President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, the veto was overridden by U.S. Congress.
• Civil Rights Act of 1871 was also known at the time as the "Ku Klux Klan Act" because one of main reasons for its passage was to protect southern blacks from the KKK by providing a civil remedy for abuses then being committed in the south.
• Civil Rights Act of 1875 guaranteed blacks the same treatment as whites in certain public places. This bill was ruled unconstitutional by the Civil Rights Cases. Subsequently legislation has used the interstate commerce clause as the basis for legislation.
• Civil Rights Act of 1957 established a Civil Rights Commission (CRC) to protect individuals' rights to equal protection and permitted courts to grant injunctions in support of the CRC.
• Civil Rights Act of 1960 established federal inspection of local voter registration polls.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a law prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments as well as some public places.
• Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
• Civil Rights Act of 1991 provided for the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award.