Civil Rights in the Burger Court Era

THE DECADE OF the sixties was a turbulent one. It began in a spirit of hope. In the midst of a period of sustained prosperity, John Kennedy created the Peace Corps, Lyndon Johnson launched his Great Society, and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that everyone could participate in the good life. Under Earl Warren the United States Supreme Court complemented the liberal legislation by championing the rights of the individual who had been neglected by the mainstream of society-the criminal suspect, the member of a minority group, and the poor.

But the dream was not fulfilled, and the decade ended in a spirit of discontent and frustration manifested by the presence of the hippies, the yippies, the sit-ins, crises in the ghettos, discord over the Vietnam War, resentment over escalating welfare costs, disrespect for authority, and an ever-increasing crime rate.