1
Heart of Atlanta v. United States
Kathryn Wells
BPLE 3403 / Legal Concepts in Business
March 19, 2017
Michael Hilley
2
Heart of Atlanta v. United States
The Heart of Atlanta was a motel that has 216 rooms available for guests to rent. The
motel is owned and operated by Appellant. The location of the motel was convenient to four
different highways. Appellant advertised the motel both inside and outside the State of Georgia.
They used multiple advertising methods through national magazines and billboards.
Approximately seventy-five percent of guests were from outside the state of Georgia. Heart of
Atlanta refused to rent motel rooms to guests of races outside Caucasian, targeting Negroes
specifically. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was initially passed, the motel stated they would
continue their whites only room rental policy.
After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed men and women of color were still having
difficulties traveling the country. They found it difficult to find places to stay overnight. They
