In Corrigan et al. v. Buckley, the U.S Supreme Court upheld racially restrictive covenants on real estate in Washington D.C., ruling that they did not violate the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because they were private agreements between individuals rather than state actions. The case arose when a group of white property owners sued to prevent an African American man from purchasing a home in their neighborhood, arguing that such sales violated existing racial covenants prohibiting property transfers to non-whites. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, asserting that while states could not enforce racial segregation through law due to the 14th amendment, private parties could still voluntarily agree to segregate themselves and have those agreements enforced by courts.

In the dissenting opinion for Corrigan et al. v. Buckley, Justice Harlan Fiske Stone argued that racially restrictive covenants were unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. He contended that these covenants perpetuated racial segregation and discrimination by preventing African Americans from purchasing property in certain neighborhoods based on their race alone, which was a clear violation of their civil rights. Furthermore, he asserted that such practices not only undermined social harmony but also contradicted America's democratic principles of equality and justice for all citizens regardless of their race or ethnicity. Therefore, he disagreed with the majority ruling upholding these discriminatory real estate practices as lawful private contracts between individuals rather than state actions subject to constitutional scrutiny.