In the Sullivan et al. v. Little Hunting Park, Inc., et al., 1969 case, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a white property owner could not be penalized for selling his property to an African American family in violation of a neighborhood association's racially discriminatory policies. The plaintiff, Paul Sullivan had been expelled from Little Hunting Park Inc., after he attempted to transfer shares associated with one of his properties to an African-American man who was renting it. The court held that this expulsion violated both federal law and public policy against racial discrimination in housing under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1982 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C). This decision reaffirmed that private organizations cannot enforce rules or restrictions which infringe upon individual civil rights protected by federal law.

In the dissenting opinion for Sullivan et al. v. Little Hunting Park, Inc., et al., Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to extend federal civil rights laws to private property transactions was a significant overreach of judicial power. He contended that such an expansion of these laws should be left up to Congress rather than decided by the courts. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential implications on property rights and freedom of association if private entities were forced to comply with public accommodation standards under civil rights law. In his view, this case did not involve state action or interstate commerce – two areas where federal intervention would be justified – but instead involved purely private conduct which should remain outside the scope of federal regulation.