E/CN.4/1995/78/Add.1 page 29 advertising and financing of housing. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 now provides the federal Government with substantially improved enforcement powers, the right to file suit on behalf of aggrieved parties in the Federal Court and the right to impose substantial monetary damages to defendants. 101. The Commission on Civil Rights is the major machinery for fighting discrimination in the United States. Its mandate has grown considerably as the scope of civil rights has expanded over the years. Today, the Commission is charged with investigating patterns of discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin. Since its creation in 1957, the Commission has established facts and recommended solutions. Although it has no enforcement authority, its investigations into the effects of discrimination have proved relevant and accurate. Over the years, the Commission’s findings and reports have furnished the basis for countless public and private actions to combat inequality of opportunity in the United States. The Commission’s recommendations have found their way into numerous laws, executive orders and policies. Civil rights acts from 1960 onwards reflect Commission recommendations. Two major examples of such recommendations that have become law are Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in federally assisted programmes, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided for the assignment of federal examiners to areas where citizens experience difficulty in registering to vote. 102. As is clear from the preceding paragraphs, there is no lack of legislation against racism and racial discrimination in the United States. Without wishing to repeat himself, the Special Rapporteur has drawn on numerous accounts and documents provided by reliable sources and has concluded that all too often the law is circumvented or violated by federal or State agents and individuals. In addition, economic and social conditions inherited from the past, which the law has not yet succeeded in totally eliminating, restrict its impact. As a result, de facto segregation may persist, for economic reasons, in housing and education, even though the law prohibits any form of segregation; de facto segregation may also persist in access to health care. Victims of police brutality may, because of their lack of education or resources, be unaware of the remedies available to them to obtain redress. 103. For its part, the Commission on Civil Rights recognizes the limits of the law when it says the following: "Although the successes of some minorities and women may make it appear to some that civil rights are the norm in America, in fact, they are not. Civil rights law enforcement in areas such as education, housing, employment, and economic development has deteriorated steadily in recent years, and today, is incapable of meeting the social and economic challenges facing our increasingly diverse Nation. Failure to realize the promise of civil rights laws is a root cause of the rising tensions among our diverse racial and ethnic communities." 66/ 104. In other words, even when cases of racism or racial discrimination are brought before the courts, the victims do not always obtain redress, on account of the growing reluctance of many judges to take into account a racist intent or motive in dealing with crimes. This trend among the judiciary is