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Prepared by Tony Wolusky, J.D. , Metropolitan State University of Denver

Chapter 4Equal Protection Under the Law:

Balancing Individual, State

and Federal Rights

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The framers of the Constitution wanted to prevent excessive federal authority.

They wanted to give states more authority, but resulted in problems the national government could not overlook.

There were several issues:o State bank and money versus national

banks and currency,o federal aid versus state aid to improve

roadways and railway o freedom versus slavery

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President Lincoln was elected in 1960.o Soon after many states passed a

resolution to withdraw from the Union. President Lincoln was faced with trying to

keep the Union together. He promised to abolish slavery in the

territories, but under the Constitution, slavery was legal in the states where it had been established.

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Dred Scott v. Sandfordo Supreme Court ruled that even free blacks could not

be citizens of the United States and that they “had no rights which a white man was bound to respect.”

The southern states were not convinced and the Civil War ensued.

It pitted American against American and sometimes brother against brother.

Hundreds of thousands wounded and killed. Caused a divide that still affects the country to this

day.

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April 1862, slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia and 2 months later in all the territories.

January 1, 1863, President Lincoln declared free all the slaves in all districts of the United States in his Emancipation Proclamation.o Set a national tone toward abolishing

slavery. 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865 and

abolished slavery.

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Even though slavery was now abolished with the 13th Amendment, states continued to discriminate.o Many southern states passed Black Codes

Congress passed the 14th Amendment in 1868 which gave blacks citizenship, and granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

The 14th Amendment also forbids the states to deny their citizens due process of law or equal protection of the law.o Certain provisions of the Bill of Rights were made

applicable to the states as well

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Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states that all people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside, effectively overriding the Dred Scott decision.

It also prevents federal and state governments from abridging the privileges of citizens or to deny any citizen equal protection of the law or deprive them of life, liberty or property without due process of the law.

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Due process provides rules and procedures to ensure fairness and prevent arbitrary government actions.

Procedural due process refers to how laws are applied.

Substantive due process, on the other hand, requires that the laws themselves be fair, not just how the laws are enforced.

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Prevents state or local governments from infringing on people’s rights when federal government would not be allowed to.

It holds that only the provisions of the Bill of Rights fundamental to the American scheme of justice are applied to the states through the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

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Facts: Duncan requested a jury trial and was denied, then found guilty of battery with a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment.

Issues: Is the denial of the jury trial in a state criminal prosecution, where a sentence of up to two years imprisonment is possible, a violation of the 6th and 14th Amendments?

Holding: Yes. Rationale: The right to a jury trial is

fundamental to the American scheme of justice.

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The Supreme Court found that the Connecticut law making contraceptives illegal violated a “right to privacy” in regard to marriage within the 14th amendment.

The Court asserted that certain rights and liberties, even though not specifically stated in the Constitution, exist because specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras or peripheral rights implied along with them.

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Rights explicitly listed in the Bill of Rights (enumerated) are applied to the states through incorporation and are almost always evaluated with the strict scrutiny test.

Nonenumerated rights are those that are implied in the concept of ordered liberty, using the due process section of the 14th Amendment covering proceedings involving life, liberty and property.

If state interference in these nonenumerated rights involves a fundamental right (generally those involving civil rights), strict scrutiny is applied. If not fundamental, the courts apply the rational basis test instead.

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Issue: Does a state law forbidding a baker to work more than 10 hours in a day or 60 hours a week violate the liberty protected by the 14th Amendment?

Holding: Yes. Rationale: The Supreme Court decided

the law is not reasonable and interferes with the right contract found in the liberty aspect of the Due Process Clause.

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Issues: Does New York law that establishes a minimum milk price violate the Due Process Clause?

Holding: No. Rationale: The Supreme Court in contrast to

the older Lochner case, decided that in the area of social and economic legislation, if the law is not arbitrary and has a reasonable relation to promoting public welfare, the courts are without authority to override it.

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Prejudice- is an attitude, commonly known as a negative attitude regarding a person or thing.

Discrimination- is an action or behavior based on prejudice.

In a democratic society, people are free to think what they want.

When these thoughts become socially unacceptable behaviors, the government is justified in intervening.

Laws exist to punish the actor and protect the victim.

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Racial discrimination existed well before colonization and the Constitution.

The 13th Amendment did not outlaw unequal treatment or change racial attitudes.o Dred Scott (1856) decision ruled that freed

slaves did not have the right to remain free in a territory where slavery was still legal.

o Plessy v. Feguson (1896) showed the Court’s desire to avoid civil rights issues, declaring discrimination to be outside the realm of the Court.

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Racial tension mounted as states passed laws to ensure that Whites could maintain their privileged status.

These laws were known as Jim Crow Lawso Strictly segregated Blacks from

Whites in schools, restaurants, streetcars, hospitals, and cemeteries.

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Many laws were passed that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in employment and education in public and private sectors at the federal, state and local levels.o The Equal Pay Act of 1963o The Civil Rights Act of 1964o The 1972 Equal Opportunity Act o 1972 Equal Education Act

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The Nixon Administration formed the affirmative action programs.

They were created to spread equal opportunity throughout the diverse American population.

They were designed to cure discrimination in hiring and eliminate past, present and future discrimination using race, sex, color, and age as deciding criteria.

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Facts: The defendant was African-American and the prosecutor used the state’s peremptory challenges to remove all four prospective black jurors, leaving an all white jury that ultimately convicted Batson.

Issues: Can use of peremptory challenges be unconstitutional?

Holding: Yes. Rationale: The Court ruled that the use of

peremptory challenges to deliberately produce a racially unbalanced jury was unconstitutional.

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Must distinguish between discrimination and disparity.o Disparity is a difference, but one that does

not necessarily involve discrimination.o Discrimination is the differential treatment

of groups without reference to an individual’s behavior or qualifications.• The degree and prevalence of discriminatory

treatment within the criminal justice system exists along a continuum between the extremes of pure justice and systematic discrimination.

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Criminal justice system is characterized by contextual discrimination.o Racial minorities are treated more

harshly at some points and in some places in the criminal justice system but no differently than Whites at other points and in other places.

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Facts: Evidence established the systematic exclusion of African-Americans from jury service in 2 Alabama cities.

Issues: Is this consistent with the 14th Amendment?

Holding: No. Rationale: Court acknowledged that exclusion

of African Americans on juries constituted an equal protection violation.

The ruling was ineffectual and African Americans remained underrepresented on juries.

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Right- a legally protected claim. Privilege- a claim that is not legally

protected. Cooper v. Pate (1964)

o Inmates could sue the warden for depriving them of their constitutional rights under Section 1983 of the U.S. Code.

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Race discriminationo Segregating racial groups, assuming they

will be in conflict otherwise, violates the equal protection component of the 14th Amendment.

Discrimination against the disabledo Correctional facilities were required to

provide special accommodations, programming and services to disabled inmates.