Civil Rights and Public PolicyChapter 5

Chapter 5

Two Centuries of Struggle

Dredd Scott v. Sanford

1857 – Chief Justice Taney declared that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories. Decision handed down a few years prior

to the civil war

13th Amendment

1864 - Forbade slavery and involuntary servitude

14th Amendment

1868 – Originally created in order to make former slaves citizens.

Courts have recently ruled that, under the 14th amendment, racial and ethnic classifications by states in regard to any matter are inherently suspect.

Equal Protection Clause

Contained in 14th amendment and has been interpreted broadly enough to forbid racial segregation in the public schools, reapportion state legislatures, and prohibit job discrimination.

Does not deny states treating classes of citizens differently if the classification is reasonable

15th Amendment

1870 – “The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the US or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Prevents racial discrimination in voting.

Suffrage

The legal right to vote

Grandfather Clause

Passed by Oklahoma and other southern states to deny African Americans the right to vote.

Poll Taxes

Banned in 1944 1962 – Outlawed for federal

elections by the 24th Amendment

Strauder v. West Virginia

1880 – Invalidated a law barring African Americans from jury service

Refused to use the 14th Amendment to remedy subtle forms of discrimination.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 – The principle of “separate but equal” was used to justify segregation

Jim Crow Laws

Laws that were enacted by Southern Whites in the late nineteenth century to segregate African Americans from Whites.

De Facto Educational Segregation

Segregation that was not backed by law Ex. Segregation occurs by the reality of

neighborhood schools located in areas that happen to be racially segregated.

De Jure Educational Segregation

Segregation that occurs by law

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 – Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson

Ruled that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional

After the decision, school integration proceeded very slowly.

Brown v. Board of Education

Resulted in increased enrollment in private schools by whites and a threat to close public schools.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools

1970 - Permitted judges to achieve racially balanced schools through busing.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Congress prohibited federal aid to schools that remained segregated.

Forbade discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or gender.

Made racial discrimination illegal in places of public accommodation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of African Americans registered to vote, especially in the south.

At the time it was passed, only 70 African Americans held public office. There was approximately 2,500 in the 1980’s and currently there are more than 9,400.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 cont’d

Amended in 1982 to redraw district boundaries to avoid discriminatory results and prevent the diluting the votes of African Americans.

Voting

State laws that restrict the right to vote to people over the age of 18 are an example of a reasonable classification under the Supreme Court’s standards of classification.

In addition, the basis for discrimination is permissible.

Shaw v. Reno

1993 – SC decried the creation of oddly-shaped districts based solely on race. Gave legal standing to challenges to

oddly shaped majority-minority districts

Majority – Minority Districts

Congressional Districts that are intentionally drawn to give minority groups a numerical majority.

Miller v. Johnson

1995 – SC rejected the Justice Departments efforts to achieve the maximum minority districts.

In addition, they held that the use of race as the predominant factor in drawing district laws should be presumed unconstitutional.

1948

Truman desegregated armed forces

Native Americans

The oldest and poorest minority group in the US.

In 1946, the Indian Claims Act established a means to settle financial disputes arising from lands taken from the Native Americans. They are guaranteed access to the polls,

housing, and to jobs

Hispanics

Largest minority group in the US Hernandez v. Texas

Court extended protection from discrimination to Hispanic Americans, guaranteeing their right to a free trial

It was the first case in which Hispanic lawyers argued before the SC.

Asian Americans

Fastest growing minority population in the United States

Korematsu v. United States – 1944 – Upheld the constitutionality of the removal of Japanese Americans from the west coast and their placement in internment camps during WWII.

Classifications based on gender

Have been ruled to be somewhere between inherently suspect and reasonable.

Women

Granted the right to vote by the 19th amendment in 1920 Organized social movement and popular

struggle for women’s suffrage began in 1848. Gaining the right to vote did not eliminate

many of the challenges facing women. Did not automatically give women equal rights,

pay, and status. Many supporters of the right to vote accepted

the traditional model of the family Many state laws continued to enshrine the

traditional view of the family in public policy.

Coverture

The legal doctrine that used to give men the legal advantage in securing custody of their children in case of a divorce.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and women

Banned gender discrimination in employment by law as well as prohibited sexual harassment.

Supreme Court and Women

The SC has handed down decisions concerning gender discrimination in employment and business Voiding laws and rules barring women

from jobs through arbitrary height and weight requirements

Protecting women from being required to take mandatory pregnancy leaves from their jobs

Prohibiting gender discrimination in private business and service clubs

Reed v. Reed

1971 – SC ruled that any arbitrary sex-based classification violated the equal protection clause

Craig v. Boren

1976 – SC Ruled that it would employ a “medium scrutiny” standard: sex discrimination would be treated as neither valid or invalid.

Nancy Pelosi

First female Speaker of the House elected in 2007.

Affirmative Action

Programs are subject to strict scrutiny under the SC’s standards of review.

Race is a permissible factor among many to use in consideration to colleges.

The Supreme Court has declared the use of race in voluntary integration plans to be in violation of the equal protection clause.

Regents of California v. Bakke

Ruled that a public university could not set aside a quota of spots for particular groups.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Added handicapped people to the list of Americans protected from discrimination