State Public Accommodations Laws, Fundamental Liberties and Enforcement Programs

This article purports to investigate state legislation which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations and some of the more important administrative efforts which have been undertaken to implement these statutes. More specifically, the article attempts to: (1) summarize legislation currently in effect which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations; (2) investigate litigation, which has contested public accommodations statutes in order to determine whether the statutes threaten wider and more fundamental liberties; and (3) review some of the main activities of anti-discrimination commissions—agencies which have undertaken to execute or apply public accommodation laws