Chapter 5 Civil Rights

• Legal basis for civil rights

• Enforcing the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

• Critical Supreme Court ruling in the battle for equal protection

• Where civil rights acts seek to provide equal access and protection

Civil Liberty or Civil Right

• Bill of Rights define our civil liberties both substantive and procedural.

• Civil rights refers to the rights of all Americans to equal treatment under the law.

• The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is referred to as the “equal protection clause”.

The Equal Protection Clause:14th Amendment

• The 14th Amendment provides that “no

StateState shall make or enforce any law which shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The Equal Protection Clause:Supreme Court Interpretations

• The Supreme Court refused to apply the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to private businesses in the civil rights cases (1873).

• “Jim Crow” system of segregation in the south.

Civil Rights:Plessy v. Ferguson

• In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court upheld segregation, as long as the facilities were equal.

• The doctrine of “separate but equal” was born. Legal or de jure segregation was the acceptable to the courts.

Civil Rights:Brown v. Board of Education

• In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine and ordered the desegregation of the nation’s public schools.

Supreme Court Interpretations• Fundamental rights - constitutionally

explicit

• Suspect classification - race or nation origin

• Strict scrutiny - compelling state interest

• Intermediate scrutiny - substantially related to achieving a state goal.

• Rational basis test (ordinary scrutiny) - is it a reasonable way to achieve state goals.

Civil Rights after Brown v. Board of Education

• The Supreme Court used “strict scrutiny” to put the burden on the state government to establish the constitutionality of its actions.

• Segregation created by law (de jure) was struck down.

• De facto segregation still occurs through housing patterns in existence today.

Civil Rights Legislation:The Civil Rights Acts

• The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was declared unconstitutional.

• The Civil Rights Acts of the 1950s and 1960s were upheld on a variety of grounds, including the power to regulate interstate commerce.

Desegregation Phase One

• De jure versus de facto segregation• “Massive resistance”• Court decisions without effect• Little Rock High School - 1957• Eisenhower declares martial law• End funding to states resisting• Civil Rights Commission - 1957• Demonstrations/Civil Disobedience

continues• Leads to other changes

Civil Rights Act - 1964• Public Accommodations• Interstate Commerce Commission• Busing (education phase II)• Title IV

– Justice Department Suits– Federal Grants

• Title VII– Employment– Contracts controls

• Equal Pay Act 1963• Voting Rights 1965• War on Poverty 1966• Fair Housing Act 1968

The Universalization of Civil Rights

• Women and Gender Discrimination

• Latinos and Asian Americans

• Native Americans

• Disabled Americans

• Gays and Lesbians

Women and Gender Discrimination

• Women have always been politically active.

• It took 130 years and a World War for women to allowed to vote - 19th Amendment.

• However, it was not until the 1960s that a movement began pushing for equal rights for women.

• The Equal Rights Amendment was defeated in 1982.

• 14% of the 107th Congress are women.

Latinos and Asian Americans

• Groups like MALDEF and LULAC have pushed for equal rights for Latinos.

• The Asian Law Caucus strives for equal rights for Asian Americans.

Native Americans

• Native Americans were not granted citizenship until 1924.

• The American Indian Movement (AIM) was active in the 1960s and 1970s.

Disabled Americans

• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was a significant victory for groups like the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

Gays and Lesbians

• The Human Rights Campaign Fund is the primary national political action committee working for equal protection for gays and lesbians.

• The Supreme Court’s decision in Romer v. Evans (1996) suggests a move towards the recognition of civil rights.

Affirmative Action

• What is the basis for affirmative action?

• How does affirmative action contribute to the polarization of the politics of civil rights?

• How does the debate about affirmative action reflect the debate over American political values?

Affirmative Action• Affirmative action encompasses

government policies or programs that seek to redress past injuries against specified groups by providing access to education and employment opportunities.

• It is difficult to determine the best way to provide opportunity.— Quotas— Legal action.

The Supreme Court and theBurden of Proof

• In Bakke v. UC at Davis (1978), the United States Supreme Court recognized the importance of affirmative action programs, but rejected the procedures used by the University to ensure minority admissions.

• Specifically, the use of quotas was found to violate the equal protection rights of Mr. Bakke.

The Supreme Court and theBurden of Proof

• Federal courts have weakened the impact of affirmative action over the last ten years.

• The Supreme Court in the Adarand Constructors case (1995) rejected race-based preferences in government contracts.

• The Fifth Circuit rejected the admissions criteria for admission to U.T. Law School in the Hopwood case (1996).

Referendums on Affirmative Action

• The California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209) outlawed affirmative action programs in the state and local governments.

• A similar attempt failed in Houston, Texas.

Affirmative Action and American Political Values

• Affirmative action efforts have contributed to the polarization of the politics of civil rights.

• Americans seem split down the ideological center over the need for affirmative action.