The
Civil Rights Act of 1866 Text
The full, original Civil Rights Act of 1866 Text is detailed as
follows:
The Civil
Rights Act of 1866
April 09, 1866
An Act to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil
Rights, and furnish the Means of their Vindication.
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That all persons born in the United States and not
subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are
hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such
citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any previous
condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory
in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be
parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold,
and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal benefit
of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property,
as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law,
statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any person who, under color
of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall
subject, or cause to be subjected, any inhabitant of any State or
Territory to the deprivation of any right secured or protected by
this act, or to different punishment, pains, or penalties on account
of such person having at any time been held in a condition of
slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason of
his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white
persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on
conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the
discretion of the court.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the district courts of the
United States, within their respective districts, shall have,
exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all
crimes and offences committed against the provisions of this act,
and also, concurrently with the circuit courts of the United States,
of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting persons who are denied
or cannot enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of the State
or locality where they may be any of the rights secured to them by
the first section of this act; and if any suit or prosecution, civil
or criminal, has been or shall be commenced in any State court,
against any such person, for any cause whatsoever, or against any
officer, civil or military, or other person, for any arrest or
imprisonment, trespasses, or wrongs done or committed by virtue or
under color of authority derived from this act or the act
establishing a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and
all acts amendatory thereof, or for refusing to do any act upon the
ground that it would be inconsistent with this act, such defendant
shall have the right to remove such cause for trial to the proper
district or circuit court in the manner prescribed by the “Act
relating to habeas corpus and regulating judicial proceedings in
certain cases,” approved March three, eighteen hundred and
sixty-three, and all acts amendatory thereof. The jurisdiction in
civil and criminal matters hereby conferred on the district and
circuit courts of the United States shall be exercised and enforced
in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as such
laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases
where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in
the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish
offences against law, the common law, as modified and changed by the
constitution and statutes of the State wherein the court having
jurisdiction of the cause, civil or criminal, is held, so far as the
same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the
United States, shall be extended to and govern said courts in the
trial and disposition of such cause, and, if of a criminal nature,
in the infliction of punishment on the party found guilty.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the district attorneys,
marshals, and deputy marshals of the United States, the
commissioners appointed by the circuit and territorial courts of the
United States, with powers of arresting, imprisoning, or bailing
offenders against the laws of the United States, the officers and
agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and every other officer who may be
specially empowered by the President of the United States, shall be,
and they are hereby, specially authorized and required, at the
expense of the United States, to institute proceedings against all
and every person who shall violate the provisions of this act, and
cause him or them to be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the
case may be, for trial before such court of the United States or
territorial court as by this act has cognizance of the offence. And
with a view to affording reasonable protection to all persons in
their constitutional rights of equality before the law, without
distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, and to the prompt discharge of
the duties of this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts
of the United States and the superior courts of the Territories of
the United States, from time to time, to increase the number of
commissioners, so as to afford a speedy and convenient means for the
arrest and examination of persons charged with a violation of this
act; and such commissioners are hereby authorized and required to
exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred on them
by this act, and the same duties with regard to offences created by
this act, as they are authorized by law to exercise with regard to
other offences against the laws of the United States.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all
marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants and
precepts issued under the provisions of this act, when to them
directed; and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive
such warrant or other process when tendered, or to use all proper
means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction
thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of
the person upon whom the accused is alleged to have committed the
offense. And the better to enable the said commissioners to execute
their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the
Constitution of the United States and the requirements of this act,
they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties
respectively, to appoint, in writing, under their hands, any one or
more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all such
warrants and other process as may be issued by them in the lawful
performance of their respective duties; and the persons so appointed
to execute any warrant or process as aforesaid shall have authority
to summon and call to their aid the bystanders or posse comitatus of
the proper county, or such portion of the land or naval forces of
the United States, or of the militia, as may be necessary to the
performance of the duty with which they are charged, and to insure a
faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution which
prohibits slavery, in conformity with the provisions of this act;
and said warrants shall run and be executed by said officers
anywhere in the State or Territory within which they are issued.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall
knowingly and wilfully obstruct, hinder, or prevent any officer, or
other person charged with the execution of any warrant or process
issued under the provisions of this act, or any person or persons
lawfully assisting him or them, from arresting any person for whose
apprehension such warrant or process may have been issued, or shall
rescue or attempt to rescue such person from the custody of the
officer, other person or persons, or those lawfully assisting as
aforesaid, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given
and declared, or shall aid, abet, or assist any person so arrested
as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from the custody of
the officer or other person legally authorized as aforesaid, or
shall harbor or conceal any person for whose arrest a warrant or
process shall have been issued as aforesaid, so as to prevent his
discovery and arrest after notice or knowledge of the fact that a
warrant has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall,
for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by
indictment and conviction before the district court of the United
States for the district in which said offense may have been
committed, or before the proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if
committed within any one of the organized Territories of the United
States.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the district attorneys, the
marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said district and
territorial courts shall be paid for their services the like fees as
may be allowed to them for similar services in other cases; and in
all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall
be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each
case, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and
examination. The person or persons authorized to execute the process
to be issued by such commissioners for the arrest of offenders
against the provisions of this act shall be entitled to a fee of
five dollars for each person he or they may arrest and take before
any such commissioner as aforesaid, with such other fees as may be
deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional
services as may be necessarily performed by him or them, such as
attending at the examination, keeping the prisoner in custody, and
providing him with food and lodging during his detention, and until
the final determination of such commissioner, and in general for
performing such other duties as may be required in the premises;
such fees to be made up in conformity with the fees usually charged
by the officers of the courts of justice within the proper district
or county, as near as may be practicable, and paid out of the
Treasury of the United States on the certificate of the judge of the
district within which the arrest is made, and to be recoverable from
the defendant as part of the judgment in case of conviction.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever the President of
the United States shall have reason to believe that offences have
been or are likely to be committed against the provisions of this
act within any judicial district, it shall be lawful for him, in his
discretion, to direct the judge, marshal, and district attorney of
such district to attend at such place within the district, and for
such time as he may designate, for the purpose of the more speedy
arrest and trial of persons charged with a violation of this act;
and it shall be the duty of every judge or other officer, when any
such requisition shall be received by him, to attend at the place
and for the time therein designated.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the
President of the United States, or such person as he may empower for
that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the
United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary to prevent
the violation and enforce the due execution of this act.
Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That upon all questions of law
arising in any cause under the provisions of this act a final appeal
may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States.
SCHUYLER COLFAX,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
LAFAYETTE S. FOSTER,
President of the Senate, pro tempore.
Civil Rights Act of 1866 Text - President Andrew Johnson Video
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