All public facilities meant to serve the public should ensure that every individual is entitled to full and equal enjoyment of the facility without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.  Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 authorizes the United States Attorney General to initiate legal proceedings when a person has been denied equal access to public facilities on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Whenever the  Attorney General receives a written, signed complaint from an individual stating that he or she has being deprived or threatened with the loss of his or her right to the equal protection of the laws, because of his or her race, color, religion, or national origin, the Attorney General may institute an action in the appropriate United States District Court against the parties who discriminated.  However, the Attorney General must be of the opinion that the complaint contains a meritorious claim which will help in the desegregation of a public facility, and that the complainant is unable to initiate or maintain the appropriate legal proceedings for relief.

A person may be considered unable to initiate and maintain appropriate legal proceedings when s/he is unable to bear the expense of litigation, or if the Attorney General is of the opinion that the facility subjected to litigation is capable of jeopardize the personal safety, employment, or economic standing of the complainant(s), their families, or their property.  In these suits the federal governmetn pays for all plaintiff costs, including attorney fees for proceedings brought by the Attorney General under Title III.