Iowa Civil Rights Act turns 50

IOWA CITY — In the past few weeks, the issue of civil rights in the United States has taken center stage.

Nine people were shot dead in a historic black church in South Carolina on June 17. Days later, the state's governor called for removal of the Confederate flag from capitol grounds.

And on June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

President Barack Obama responded, at times, by declaring victory for civil rights and America and, in the same breath, noting the heartbreak and horror that still persists.

'For too long, we've been blind to the way past injustices continue to shape the present,' Obama said in a eulogy for one of the nine killed in South Carolina.

That juxtaposition between progress and imperfection reflects the feelings University of Iowa law professor Arthur Bonfield has about Iowa and the Civil Rights Act the state enacted 50 years ago.

'This statute, like every statute, is not perfect, but it's good we have it,' Bonfield said.

The Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965, which Bonfield drafted, was paramount in the state's struggle for human rights in that it helped reduce discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

In short, Bonfield said, it formally committed Iowans to protect and respect human dignity by embedding in the law a mandate to treat people on the basis of merits, capacities and accomplishments and not based on 'overbroad, unjust, and harmful stereotypes.'

'If everyone in our society would act righteously, which is to say according to that principal, we would not need the law to declare and enforce the principle,' he said. 'Until that day, however, we need the Iowa Civil Rights Act and should be grateful for its enactment 50 years ago.'

'Something had to be done'

Bonfield, who teaches courses at UI in administrative and constitutional law and who has received numerous accolades for his work as an academic, scholar and law reformer, said discrimination was widespread and pervasive across the United States and Iowa in the 1960s.

'Something had to be done,' he said.

The legal system seemed an obvious tool to him, but there was pushback — including from those who thought discrimination was wrong but believed education was the best way halt prejudice. And, at the time, Iowa did have two statutory provisions prohibiting discrimination in the private sector — although they were 'grossly under-inclusive' and 'defective,' Bonfield said.

For starters, they did not include protections based on sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and covered only specific establishments such as 'inns, restaurants, and places of amusement.'

That left some establishments free to discriminate, including retail stores, health clinics, hospitals and banks, according to Bonfield.

And so a groundswell of support for entirely new civil rights legislation began to grow. By 1964, Bonfield said, passage seemed possible. But he had to start small. Based on discussions with lawmakers, Bonfield said, he believe legislation only was feasible if it left out prohibitions of sex discrimination and housing provisions.

As a result, Bonfield said, his first draft into the Iowa General Assembly in 1964 including only employment and public accommodations provisions and applied only to racial, religious and national origin discrimination.

And it passed. Shortly after, he began work on a fair housing amendment, and that went through in 1967. In 1970s, the law finally was amended to bar sex discrimination.

Age and disability provisions were added in 1972, but Bonfield said he still had concerns about enforcement mechanisms.

He addressed those concerns in 1978 by writing in changes to improve and strengthen the Iowa Civil Rights Commission's process and power.

'The good work we have been doing'

The commission — a neutral, fact-finding law enforcement agency charged with enforcing the state's Civil Rights Act — processes hundreds of cases a year, resulting in a range of outcomes from mediation to settlements to dismissal.

In the 2014 budget year, the commission received 1,540 complaints of discrimination — 30 of which were determined not to be within the group's jurisdiction. The 1,510 remaining complaints were 308 fewer than in the 2010 budget year, representing a 17 percent decline.

A majority of the cases related to employment discrimination, and most involved allegations tied to race, sex, disability, and age.

Of the total complaints, 125 were filed from Linn County, and 78 were filed from Johnson County.

And Linn County also has its own Civil Rights Commission, which considered 47 cases in 2014. Of that total, 31 related to employment, 15 to housing and 1 for public accommodation. The majority related to alleged racial discrimination, and two resulted in probable cause findings.

At the state level, the commission mediated 111 cases in the 2014 budget year, 65 of which were successful, according to the commission's annual report. It assigned 38 cases to conciliation, which occurs after probable cause is found, and 14 had successful outcomes.

Of the 1,390 cases closed during the budget year, most — 755 — were found not to warrant further investigation.

Kristin Johnson, executive director of the state commission, said she's encouraged by the downward trend in reports and, in fact, would like to see the commission put out of a job.

'I would like to think it's because of the good work we have been doing to get the word out and educate people and make sure people understand that it's against the law to discriminate,' she said, adding that the state, socially, has come a 'long, long way.'

Iowa long has been ahead of the nation in matters involving civil rights, Bonfield said, citing desegregation and the move to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009.

'But you still need the law to prevent harm from those unwilling to act on a basis of fairness and moral duty to others,' he said.