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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is the Senate filibuster a relic of the Jim Crow era?

Saturday, August 1, 2020

By Eric Smith

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The filibuster, a legislative debating tactic to slow down a bill's passage, predates the Jim Crow era by decades, having been enabled by a change to U.S. Senate rules in 1806. Jim Crow, the title of an old Black minstrel song, became a catchphrase for a patchwork of segregation laws and provisions enacted after the Civil War.

The filibuster allows a minority of Senators to prevent a bill from being brought to a vote. This stems from Senate rules that enable unlimited debate until at least three-fifths of members vote to end it.

It was widely used in the 1950's and 1960's by southern senators seeking to block civil-rights legislation. The longest filibuster in history occurred when South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (the bill passed).

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Senate: The filibuster

Brookings Institution: What is the Senate filibuster, and what would it take to eliminate it?

ThoughtCo: Five longest filibusters

ABC News: Memorable filibusters

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.