The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1937, also known as the Gavagan-Wagner Act or the Wagner-Gavagan Act, was a proposed anti-lynching law which was sponsored by Democrats Joseph A. Gavagan and Robert F. Wagner, both of them were from New York. It was introduced in response to the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass the 1934–35 Costigan-Wagner Act, although President Roosevelt was more prepared to support the 1937 Bill.
Proponents of the bill argued that lynching was a fundamental failure of the rule of law as well as a fundamental failure of due process while opponents of the bill argued that constitutionally, lynching was a State issue rather than a Federal issue, lynching was already in decline, so a federal bill was unnecessary and federal anti-lynching legislation would be unenforceable.[8]
References
^"State Lynching Stirs U.S. Action: 2 Negroes Slain By Mob, Officers Will Investigate". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, MS. April 14, 1937.