allow blacks access to public hotels, restaurants, theaters and retail stores. It was vigorously opposed by 18 democratic senators from the south led by Richard Russell (D-GA) who stated, "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling of the races."
However, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march on Washington and delivery of his historic I Have A Dream speech on August 28, 1963 dramatically increased pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill. Although President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, his Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson continued to push for passage of the Act. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was finally approved by the Senate on June 19, 1964 and enacted on July 2, 1964.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is codified in the federal laws at Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983. In total, Section 1983 states:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
Interestingly, section 1983 prevents any "State" from depriving a citizen from all rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution. This would prevent, for example, a state police officer (including county and city officers) from beating a citizen because the fourth amendment protects us from the use of excessive force. However, it did not, by its terms, prevent a Federal police officer from using excessive force because section 1983 only applied to State actors.
The United States Supreme Court addressed this issue in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). In that case, federal Drug Enforcement Agents searched Webster Bivens’ home without a warrant. Mr. Bivens sued the federal government under section 1983 for violation of his constitutional rights. The trial court threw out Mr. Bivens case because section 1983 only applied to officers acting under color of state law. On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the Court extended the protections of Section 1983 to those cases where constitutional rights were deprived by those acting under color of federal law. However, as a technical matter, lawsuits brought against federal agents or the federal government for section 1983 violations are called "Bivens" actions.
Although modern civil rights litigation has its roots in the antebellum South, it is now used to protect the rights of all citizens of any race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. Mr. Gilliland’s first civil rights case dates back to 1994 where he challenged the practice of not allowing black youths to congregate at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, California because the business owners felt they would scare away tourists. Mr. Gilliland’s client was refused to leave and was maced and shot by an off-duty National City Police officer. The defense offered Mr. Gilliland’s client $5,000 to settle the case. A San Diego jury awarded the plaintiff $600,000. After a second phase of trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff another $1,000,000 in punitive damages. The defense ended up paying over $2.2 million dollars after unsuccessfully appealing to the California Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court.
Since that time, Mr. Gilliland has represented plaintiffs from all walks of life in defense of their civil rights. He has litigated Bivens actions against United States agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Border Patrol and the United States Immigration and Customs Service (ICE). He is responsible for the largest settlement ever against the FBI in the Southern District of California for false arrest and imprisonment.
Mr. Gilliland has also represented plaintiffs in section 1983 actions against state and local police agencies including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, City of Chula Vista Police Department and the San Diego Harbor police. He has represented inmates that have been beaten and killed by guards in the California jails system and represented six men that were released from state prison after their convictions had been tainted by the sex in the D.A.’s office scandal. Mr. Gilliland tried the 1998 racial profiling case that resulted in punitive damages against a San Diego Police Officer.
