Which case established that discrimination in public accommodations could be challenged under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause?

• A. Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)
• B. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
• C. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)
• D. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Answer: (C)

The key idea is federal power to regulate private discrimination in public spaces through Congress’s power over interstate commerce. In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the Civil Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination in hotels and other public accommodations, ruling that such discrimination could be regulated because it affected interstate travel and commerce. This case shows that Congress can address private segregation in places that serve the public by grounding the action in the Commerce Clause, not in the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which applies to state action. The other options address school desegregation or pre-Civil War issues and aren’t about regulating discrimination in public accommodations.