Derrick Alexander Pope│Hidden Legal Figures Podcast Collaboration│Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States

This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Derrick Alexander Pope (https://onthearc.net/).

 

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Case Details:

Hidden Legal Figures podcast host Derrick Alexander Pope returns to the Great Trials Podcast to discuss a landmark case, which brought into question both the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the governing of interstate commerce in a post-Civil Rights world. Moreton Rolleston, owner of the Heart of Atlanta Motel located near I-75 and I-85, refused to rent available rooms to African-Americans, claiming that Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should not outrank the limits on the power afforded to Congress to regulate interstate commerce in the Commerce Clause. Moreton went so far as to argue that being forced to serve people of all races would violate his 13th Amendment rights and would place him in involuntary servitude to the government's wishes without compensation. The U.S. District Court for the North District of Georgia upheld the protections offered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and issued a permanent injunction, forcing Moreton to cease his discriminatory actions. 

 

Guest Bio:

 

Derrick Alexander Pope

 

Derrick Alexander Pope is President and founding Director of The Arc of Justice Institute. In this role, he has responsibility for all aspects of its standing initiatives and programs beginning with developing and managing the exhibit and its accompanying educational programs. He is also host of its podcast, Hidden Legal Figures.

 

Before The Arc, Mr. Pope enjoyed a distinguished career in the public, private, and academic sectors. He has provided counsel to the legislative and executive branches of government at the federal, state, and county level, having most recently served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. He is a former Assistant Legislative Counsel to the Georgia General Assembly and former Legislative Counsel to the Medical Association of Georgia. In 2015 and 2016, Mr. Pope was a member of the White House Data Driven Justice Initiative and the My Brother's Keeper Taskforce. In private practice, he has helped protect the inheritance rights of more than 500 families throughout Georgia. Mr. Pope is a former adjunct professor of law at the Georgia State University College of Law where he taught Probate Practice and Procedure.

 

Mr. Pope has several published works to his credit. He is the author of By the Content of Our Character: A Declaration of  Independence for Colored Folks, Negroes, Black People, and African Americans and Thy Will Be Done: An African American Guide to Estate Planning and the Howard Law Journal article A Constitutional Window to Interpretive Reason: Or in Other Words...The Ninth Amendment. In 2012 teaming wih this daughter he released a spoken word CD - The Race Track.

 

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Free Resources:

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1 

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2