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Judicial Enforcement Of Restrictive Covenants In The United States, Yi-Seng Kiang

Washington Law Review

On May 3, 1948 the Supreme Court of the United States handed down two decisions prohibiting judicial enforcement of racial restrictive covenants on real property. It has been a peculiar feature of American life that residential segregation of designated minority groups from certain prescribed areas is a common practice in all major cities. This policy of racial discrimination at first was enforced by municipal ordinance, beginmng with that of Baltimore in 1910, and quickly followed by Atlanta, Richmond, Louisville, and other cities, until it was held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1917. Thereafter restrictive covenants became the principal weapon …