Moose Lodge No. v. Irvis (107 ) - The Issues At Stake

The case hinged on the definition of "state action." "State action" means action taken by the state or one of its officers. If state action is taken that discriminates against someone on the basis of race, it violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, a discriminatory action taken by a private official is not covered by constitutional protection. Certainly the Moose Lodge was a private club in the everyday sense of the term. It received no federal or state money and restricted access to members and their guests. In some earlier cases, however, the Court had found that a strong enough relationship existed between a state and a private institution to warrant disallowing the institution's discrimination on the grounds that it violated federal law. This was Irvis' contention. Also, there was a question as to whether the state's policy of restricting the distribution of liquor licenses meant that it had turned the lodge into a state-supported monopoly--and thus subjected it to federal civil rights law.