CARRIERS - COMMON CARRIERS - SEGREGATION OF RACES - DISCRIMINATION

Plaintiff, a negro, had purchased a railroad ticket entitling him to first class accommodations from Chicago, Illinois to Hot Springs, Arkansas. When the train entered Arkansas, the conductor, in purported compliance with an Arkansas statute requiring segregation of colored from white persons forced plaintiff to leave the Pullman car and ride in the second-class car set aside for colored passengers. Plaintiff alleged that this car was not equipped with the same conveniences which were provided for white passengers traveling first class, and he filed a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission claiming that he had been discriminated against in violation of the Interstate Commerce Act. The commission, in dismissing the complaint, found that in view of the infrequent demand for Pullman accommodations by the colored people, plaintiff was not unduly discriminated against by the action of the railroad. Plaintiff then brought suit in the district court to set aside the commission\u27s order. That court dismissed the complaint. Appeal was then taken to the United States Supreme Court. Held, order reversed and remanded for further proceedings. The facts found by the commission established that plaintiff had been unduly discriminated against, and such discrimination is forbidden by section 3 (1) of the Interstate Commerce Act. Mitchell v. United States, (U. S. 1941) 61 S. Ct. 873