42 U.S.C. § 1975
Section 1975 · Establishment of Commission
This is the Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 22 court decisions — leading case Hannah v. Larche (1960)
Most recently applied in Collins v. Yellen (June 2021)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
There is established the United States Commission on Civil Rights (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the “Commission”).
The Commission shall be composed of 8 members. Not more than 4 of the members shall at any one time be of the same political party. The initial membership of the Commission shall be the members of the United States Commission on Civil Rights on September 30, 1994. Thereafter vacancies in the membership of the Commission shall continue to be appointed as follows:
(1) 4 members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President.
(2) 2 members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, upon the recommendations of the majority leader and the minority leader, and of the members appointed not more than one shall be appointed from the same political party.
(3) 2 members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives upon the recommendations of the majority leader and the minority leader, and of the members appointed not more than one shall be appointed from the same political party.
The term of office of each member of the Commission shall be 6 years. The term of each member of the Commission in the initial membership of the Commission shall expire on the date such term would have expired as of September 30, 1994.
(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the individuals serving as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the United States Commission on Civil Rights on September 30, 1994 shall initially fill those roles on the Commission.
(2) Thereafter the President may, with the concurrence of a majority of the Commission's members, designate a Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, as the case may be, from among the Commission's members.
(3) The President shall, with the concurrence of a majority of the Commission's members, fill a vacancy by designating a Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, as the case may be, from among the Commission's members.
(4) The Vice Chairperson shall act in place of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson.
The President may remove a member of the Commission only for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
5 members of the Commission constitute a quorum of the Commission.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 1975, Pub. L. 85–315, pt. I, §101, Sept. 9, 1957, 71 Stat. 634, related to establishment, membership, etc., of Commission on Civil Rights. See Codification note set out preceding this section.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–419 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to establishment of United States Commission on Civil Rights for provisions relating to Commission on Civil Rights.
1991—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–167 substituted “Chairperson” for “Chairman” wherever appearing.
Short Title of 1994 Amendment
Section 1 of Pub. L. 103–419 provided that: “This Act [amending this section and sections 1975a to 1975d of this title, omitting former sections 1975e and 1975f of this title, and amending provisions set out as a note below] may be cited as the ‘Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994’.”
Short Title of 1992 Amendment
Pub. L. 102–400, §1, Oct. 7, 1992, 106 Stat. 1955, provided that: “This Act [amending section 1975e of this title] may be cited as the ‘United States Commission on Civil Rights Authorization Act of 1992’.”
Short Title of 1991 Amendment
Section 1 of Pub. L. 102–167 provided that: “This Act [amending this section and sections 1975a and 1975c to 1975f of this title] may be cited as the ‘United States Commission on Civil Rights Reauthorization Act of 1991’.”
Short Title of 1989 Amendment
Pub. L. 101–180, §1, Nov. 28, 1989, 103 Stat. 1325, provided that: “This Act [amending sections 1975e and 1975f of this title] may be cited as the ‘Civil Rights Commission Reauthorization Act of 1989’.”
Short Title
Section 1 of Pub. L. 98–183, as amended by Pub. L. 103–419, §2, Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4338, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983’.”