Jury trial amendment

When the United States Senate took up the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the jury trial amendment was introduced and passed, which weakened the legislation to being effectively toothless. The scheme was masterminded by then-Senate Majority Leader (and later president) Lyndon B. Johnson, who compromised with the Southern segregationists to pass a weak bill rather than oversee a defeat under a filibuster.^[1]

Following the removal of Title III which authorized additional powers for the United States Attorney General to seek preventive relief in civil rights cases,^[2][3] the jury trial amendment aimed to halt any further substantial progress. It required jury trials in all cases of criminal contempt, which in the South would result in a white defendant being acquitted by their segregationist peers in practically any case where they were accused by blacks of violating voting rights.^[1]

The amendment passed on August 2, 1957 by a 51–42 vote.^[4] 80% of Democrats voted yea on weakening the Civil Rights Act of 1957, compared to only 26% of Republicans. The Democrats who ensured the passage of the amendment were not exclusive to the Southern bloc, as a number of their Northern colleagues (who were largely New Deal liberals) including Joseph O'Mahoney, Mike Mansfield, and James E. Murray supported it. Then-senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts initially opposed the jury trial amendment, though voted yea after being lobbied by Johnson.^[1]

The following table shows the percentage of affirmative votes for the amendment by region and party:^{[note 1]}

• U.S. "Party-switch" myth