Barrows v. Jackson

346 U.S. 249 (1953)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ps sued D at law for damages for breach of a restrictive covenant the parties entered into as owners of residential real estate in the same neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Ps alleged that D sold but failed to include its restrictive covenant about selling to nonwhites in its deed given to the new buyer who was also nonwhite. P alleged that D broke the covenant in two respects: (1) by conveying her real estate without incorporating in the deed the restriction contained in the covenant; and (2) by permitting non-Caucasians to move in and occupy the premises. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint, and the District Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District affirmed. The trial court held that a party to a covenant restricting use and occupancy to Caucasians could not maintain a suit at law against a co-covenantor for breach of the covenant because of the Supreme Court ruling in Shelley. Shelley held that the action of the lower courts in granting equitable relief in the enforcement of such covenants constituted state action denying to Negroes, against whom the covenant was sought to be enforced, equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Ps appealed.