ABSTRACT
"State action" refers to governmental legislation or conduct done "under the color" of law. For purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, "state" obviously refers to any one of the fifty states and each of their subunits of government. Section 5 of the amendment authorizes Congress to enforce it with "appropriate legislation." Using this clause, Congress has sought to provide remedial measures to individuals denied equal protection at the hand of the state. It was not until the post-World War II era that the US Supreme Court used the state-action doctrine to eliminate racial discrimination. The scope of the doctrine of state action evolved as the Court personnel changed. In Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 US 163, the Supreme Court held that a facility that refused to serve blacks could not be reached by the Fourteenth Amendment merely because its liquor license was granted by the state.
