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36. Civil Rights Bill



AS ADOPTED BY CONGRESS, MARCH, 1866.

§ 1. That all persons 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 service, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, to be sued, be parties and give evidence; to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as are enjoyed by white citizens; and shall be subject to the like punishment, pains and penalties, and to none other; any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

§ 2. And 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 punishment, pains, and penalties, on account of such person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery, or involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by the 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 a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

§ 3. 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 can not enforce in the courts of judicial tribunal 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, civil or military, or any other person, any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses, or wrong 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 3, 1863, and all acts amendatory thereto. 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 the 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, and govern the said courts in the trial and disposition of such causes, and, if of a criminal nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party found guilty.

§ 4. 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 power 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 of the United States or territorial courts as by this act have 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 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.

§ 5. That said Commissioners shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the circuit and district courts of the United States, and the judges of the superior courts of the territories, severally and collectively, in term time and vacation, upon satisfactory proof being made, to issue warrants and precepts for arresting and bringing before them all offenders against the provisions of this act, and, on examination, to discharge, admit to bail, or commit them for trial, as the facts may warrant.

§ 6. 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. 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 offence; 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, 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 person so appointed to execute any warrant or process as aforesaid shall have authority to summon and call to their aid the bystanders of a 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.

§ 7. That any person who shall knowingly and wrongfully 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 persons legally authorized, as aforesaid, or shall harbor or conceal any person for whom a warrant or process shall have been issued as aforesaid, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest after notice of 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 before the district court of the United States for the district in which said offence 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.

§ 8. 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 food and lodgings 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 court of justice, within the proper district or county, as near as practicable, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States, on the certificate 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.

§ 9. 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 the 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.

§ 10. That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such persons 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.

§ 11. 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.