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    "localId": "12167051",
    "label": "The Administration and Civil Rights Legislation",
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    "id": "12167051",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12167051",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "The Administration and Civil Rights Legislation",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12167051",
    "collections": [
        "Records of E. Frederic Morrow, Administrative Officer, Special Projects Group (Eisenhower Administration)",
        "Personal Files of E. Frederic Morrow"
    ],
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 27,
            "logicalDate": "1957-03-27",
            "month": 3,
            "year": 1957
        }
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    "recordType": "description",
    "subtitle": "Fact Paper No. 279",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
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{
    "seq": 2,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/598780/598780_0002_Page_2.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "Page 2 - Fact Paper No. 279 - The Administration and Civil Rights Legislation\nThe major defect has been the failure of Congress thus far to\nspecifically authorize the Attorney General to invoke civil powers and\nremedies to supplement the existing authority for Federal criminal\nprosecution. Criminal prosecutions of course cannot be instituted until\nafter the harm actually has been done. Yet no amount of criminal punish-\nment can rectify the harm which the national interest suffers when citizens\nare illegally kept from the polls. What is needed is to lodge power in the\nDepartment of Justice to proceed in civil suits in which the problem can\noften be solved in advance of the election.\nThe proposed legislation would: (1) Prevent anyone from threatening,\nintimidating, or coercing an individual in the exercise of his right to vote\nin any election for federal office. (2) Authorize the Attorney General to\nbring injunction or other civil proceedings on behalf of the United States\nor an aggrieved person. (3) Eliminate the requirement that all state\nadministrative and judicial remedies must be exhausted before access can\nbe had to the federal court.\nIV. AMENDMENT OF OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS TO INCLUDE THE ADDITION OF\nCIVIL REMEDIES FOR THEIR ENFORCEMENT - In attempting to achieve the\nconstitutional goal of the observance of the civil rights, the Administration\nfeels that it has been a mistake for the Congress to have relied so heavily\nupon the criminal law and to have made so little use of the more flexible\nand often more effective processes of the civil courts. Just as in the\nvoting field (III above) the Attorney General can now prosecute after\nviolations of the civil rights laws have occurred. However, he cannot seek\npreventive relief in the courts when violations are threatened or persistently\nrepeated.\nCongress could authorize the Attorney General to seek civil remedies in\nthe civil courts for the enforcement of civil rights by a simple amendment.\nExisting statute authorizes civil suits by private persons who are injured\nby acts done in furtherance of a conspiracy to do pany of the following\nthings (1) To prevent officers from performing their duties; (2) to\nTenant\nThe\nobstruct justice; (3) to deprive persons of their rights to the equal\nprotection of the laws and equal privileges under the laws.\n.9\nA subsection could be added to that statute to give authority to the\nAttorney General to institute a civil action for redress or preventive relief\nwhenever any persons have engaged or are about to engage in acts which would\ngive rise to a cause of action under the present provisions of the law. Such\nan amendment would provide a procedure for enforcement of civil rights which\nwould be simpler and more effective than the criminal sanctions which are the\nonly remedy now available."
}