294
Stevens, J., dissenting
authorizing an implied private cause of action for victims of the prohibited discrimination").1 As long as the intent of Congress is clear, an implicit command has the same legal force as one that is explicit. The fact that a statute does not authorize a particular remedy "in so many words is no more significant than the fact that it does not in terms authorize execution to issue on a judgment recovered under [the statute]." Deckert v. Independence Shares Corp., 311 U. S. 282, 288 (1940).2
In Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 503 U. S. 60 (1992), we unanimously concluded that Title IX authorized
1 We explained: "In 1972 when Title IX was enacted, the critical language in Title VI had already been construed as creating a private remedy . . . . It is always appropriate to assume that our elected representatives, like other citizens, know the law; in this case, because of their repeated references to Title VI and its modes of enforcement, we are especially justified in presuming both that those representatives were aware of the prior interpretation of Title VI and that that interpretation reflects their intent with respect to Title IX." 441 U. S., at 696-698. We also observed that "during the period between the enactment of Title VI in 1964 and the enactment of Title IX in 1972, this Court had consistently found implied remedies—often in cases much less clear than this. It was after 1972 that this Court decided Cort v. Ash[, 422 U. S. 66 (1975),] and the other cases cited by the Court of Appeals in support of its strict construction of the remedial aspect of the statute. We, of course, adhere to the strict approach followed in our recent cases, but our evaluation of congressional action in 1972 must take into account its contemporary legal contest. In sum, it is not only appropriate but also realistic to presume that Congress was thoroughly familiar with these unusually important precedents from this and other federal courts and that it expected its enactment to be interpreted in conformity with them." Id., at 698-699 (footnotes omitted).
2 In Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Darrone, 465 U. S. 624 (1984), we unanimously concluded that comparable language in the statute prohibiting discrimination against the handicapped by federal grant recipients authorized a private right of action for the recovery of backpay. That decision, like Cannon, relied on the fact that the comparable language in Title VI had authorized a private remedy. See 465 U. S., at 626, 635.
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