# Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company *Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.*, 392 U.S. 409, decided **June 17, 1968**, held that a Reconstruction-era law, now codified as 42 U.S.C. § 1982, bars **all** racial discrimination in the sale or rental of property, whether by a government or a private seller. The vote was **7 to 2**. Justice [[Potter Stewart]] wrote for the majority. ## Why it matters The ruling came two months after Congress passed the [[Fair Housing Act of 1968]], and in one respect it went further. The new Act had exemptions for small landlords and owners selling their own homes. *Jones* had none: any refusal to sell or rent because of race was now illegal under a law that had been on the books, unused, since 1866. It also gave Congress a new source of power. Instead of relying on the [[Fourteenth Amendment]], which reaches only government action (see [[Shelley v. Kraemer]]), the Court read the [[Thirteenth Amendment]] to let Congress outlaw private discrimination as one of the lingering "badges and incidents of slavery." ## The case Joseph Lee Jones, a Black man, tried to buy a home in a new subdivision in St. Louis County, Missouri. The developer, the Alfred H. Mayer Company, refused because he was Black. Jones sued under § 1982, which comes from the [[Civil Rights Act of 1866]] and guarantees all citizens the same right "as is enjoyed by white citizens" to "inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property." The lower courts dismissed his claim on the long-standing view that the law reached only discrimination by governments. ## The decision The Court reversed. It read § 1982 to cover private refusals to deal, and held that the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, also lets Congress decide what the "badges and incidents of slavery" are and pass laws to remove them. Being shut out of where you could live, the Court said, was one of them. Justice John Marshall Harlan II dissented, joined by Justice [[Byron White]]. He argued that the 1866 Congress had not meant to reach private sellers, and that with the brand-new Fair Housing Act in place, the Court had no reason to stretch the old law. ## Connections - [[Civil Rights Act of 1866]]: the source of § 1982 and its companion, [[Section 1981]]. - [[Fair Housing Act of 1968]]: the statute passed weeks earlier. - [[Shelley v. Kraemer]]: the 1948 limit this ruling got around. - [[Thirteenth Amendment]]