Sarah Mae Flemming v. South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, a Corporation

This is an action for damages brought by a Negro woman against a bus company because the driver of the bus required her to change her seat in accordance with the segregation law of South Carolina applicable to motor vehicle carriers, South Carolina Code 1952, §§ 58-1491 to 58-1496, which she claimed to be violative of her rights under the 14th Amendment to the Federal Constitution. There was no diversity of citizenship, and defendant challenged the ’ jurisdiction of the court to entertain the action under the Civil Rights Acts, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981, 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3). The trial…