The civil rights protests and integration in Houston took place against a backdrop of dramatic and transformative national events in the 1950s and 1960s. The following decisions show how the high court has wrestled with some of history's biggest social, legal, and political issues.Painter decision in 1950 had a significant impact on civil rights in. Numerous civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including two Houston cases, Smith v. Allwright (1944) and. The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races. The ACLU of Texas fights for equality and civil rights. See below for more information on the cases we've brought to the courts. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s sounded the alarm about the public health dangers for their families, their communities and themselves. The department is responsible for maintaining the filed records for each County Civil Court case.