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Thursday in Con Law, I'm teaching on Commerce Clause & civil rights so I get to tell my favorite anecdote, about Moreton Rollston (owned Heart of Atlanta Motel, argued at SCOTUS that CRA 1964 was unconstitutional) & @tylerperry. To quote @KevinMKruse, let's dig in... (Thread) /1 
Rolleston was —you guessed it —a segregationist. Not only did he refuse to accept black patrons at his motel, but he suggested that Atlanta's public schools avoid desegregation by selling school buildings to private corporations, thereby limiting federal government dictates. /2
Even when 14 of the leading Atlanta hotels agreed in 1963 to desegregate, the Heart of Atlanta Motel still declined. /3
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title II prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin in public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce. /4
About 2 hrs after LBJ signed CRA into law, Rolleston rushed to the district court to challenge the Act & when it was closed, he went to the home of the chief clerk to file his complaint challenging the CRA's constitutionality, saying he hadn't & wouldn't integrate his motel. /5
