Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

and Public Policy

Assignments for Rest of Semester

• Chapter 4: Civil Liberties and Public Policy – Notes 12/1 to 12/4

• Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy– Notes 12/5 and 12/8

• Chapter 14: The Federal Courts– Notes 12/9 and 12/10– All text chapter notes due Thursday 11/11

• Project: Civil Liberties and Public policy– Presentations Thurs 12/11 and Fri. 12/12

• Final Exam – Period 2: 11/17– Period 7: 11/18

“All people are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights”

• Civil Liberties– Rights that belong to everyone, protections

against government, guaranteed by Constitution, legislation, and judicial decisions

• Civil Rights– Positive acts of government, designed to prevent

discrimination and provide equality before the law

Fundamental Freedoms by Founding Fathers

• Constitution and Civil Liberties– Writ of habeas corpus• Brought before a court• Informed of charges against you

– No bills of attainder• Cannot be punished without a trial

– No ex post facto laws• Laws added to acts that are committed before a law’s

passage are unconstitutional

– Trial by jury

Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties• Freedom of religion, speech, press, petition and assembly (1st

Amendment)• Establishment Clause

– prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”

– This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.

– It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion.

• Free Exercise Clause– right of American citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in

religious rituals– protects not just religious beliefs but actions made on behalf of those beliefs.

Rights of the Accused

• No unreasonable searches and seizures (4th Amendment)

• Protections against self-incrimination and double jeopardy (5th Amendment)– Cannot be forced to testify against yourself– Cannot be tried twice for same crime– Miranda v. Arizona (1966)—”Miranda Rights”

• Protections in criminal procedures (6th Amendment)– Right to a lawyer, Right to a public trial, Right to know who

your accusers are, Right to an impartial jury, speedy trial

14th Amendment

• All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

14th amendment and expanded rights

• Gitlow v. New York (1925)– Incorporation: Due Process law of 14th Amendment apply to

the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to state and local government

• Legislative Actions– Set limits or boundaries on one person’s rights over another’s– Bring balance between the rights of individuals and the

interests of society• Judicial Review

– Court decisions that protect rights• Flag burning is protected form of symbolic speech but burning of draft

card is not

Freedom of Speech

• Types of Speech– Pure Speech

• Most common form of speech, verbal speech, given the most protection by the courts

• Speech Plus– Verbal and symbolic speech used together, such as a rally, and

then picketing; may also be limited• Regulating Speech-historically

– 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts• Illegal to say anything “ false, scandalous and malicious against the govt.”

– 1901 assassination of Pres. McKinley by anarchist/entry into WWI

Symbolic Speech

• The term symbolic speech is applied to a wide range of nonverbal communication.

• Many political activities like… are considered symbolic speech– wearing armbands– displaying or mutilating the U.S. flag

• The U.S. Supreme Court has held that this form of communicative behavior is entitled to the protection of the amendment rights of Constitution freedom of speech

Symbolic Speech Tinker v. Des Moines 1969

• John and Mary Beth Tinker of Des Moines, Iowa, wore black armbands to their public school as a symbol of protest against American involvement in the Vietnam War. When school authorities asked that the Tinkers remove their armbands, they refused and were subsequently suspended. The Supreme Court decided that the Tinkers had the right to wear the armbands, with Justice Abe Fortas stating that no one expects students to “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

• . . . In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.“ Justice Fortas

Freedom of the Press

• Protected because closely related to freedom of speech

• Form of expression-Includes newspapers, magazines, radio, television

• Internet

Freedom of Assembly and Petition

• “right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

• Applies to both public and private places• Petitions, letters, picketing, demonstrations, parades, marches• Courts have protected these rights at same time allowing govt.

to set limits to protect the rights and safety of others– Permits– Certain public facilities NOT open to general public may not be used

for demonstrations– Cannot use private property for its own uses– Police may disperse demonstrations in order to keep the peace and

protect the public’s safety

Property Rights

• Due Process Clause of 5th/14th Amendments• Protection of private property• Government cannot deprive person of “life, liberty, or

property, without due process of law”• Substantive due process

– Policies of govt. or subject matter of the laws, determining whether law is fair or if it violates constitutional protections

• Procedural due process– How the law is carried out

• Eminent domain—5th Amendment– Govt. can take property for public use but requires govt. “provide

just compensation for that property”

Right to Privacy

• No mention of “Right to Privacy” in Constitution

• Griswold v. Connecticut ( 1965)– Zones of Privacy– 1st, 3rd, 4th, 9th and 14th Amendments– Enhance concept of enumerated rights

• Roe v. Wade (1973)– Recognition of right of privacy for a woman to

determine whether to terminate a pregnancy

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals

Public policy has been created by all three branches of government to prevent◦ Racial discrimination◦ Gender discrimination◦ Age, disability, sexual orientation

Civil Rights and Public Policy

women and discrimination racism 1991

Some thoughts on discrimination

13th Amendment-abolished slaver 14th Amendment-defined citizenship 15th Amendment- voting

◦ Black codes◦ Civil Rights Act of 1875 outlawed racial

discrimination in public places (ruled unconstitutional 1883)

◦ Jim Crow laws-state/local rules designed to segregate

Historical background

1896 Supreme Court upheld Jim Crow laws◦ Reviewed different◦ Separate but equal doctrine

1954 Brown v. Board of Education◦ Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson◦ Ordered the desegregation of school’s “with all

deliberate speed”◦ In Ventura CA my cousins, brother and I were the

first Mexican-Americans to “desegregate” neighborhood elementary school (1967)

Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education

1957◦ Creation of Civil Rights Division within Justice Department

1965◦ Prohibited discrimination in employment and places of

public accommodation 24th Amendment (1964)

◦ Outlawed poll taxes in federal elections Voting Rights Act (1965)

◦ Outlawed literacy and other discriminatory tests in voter registration

Civil Rights Act (1991)◦ Eased law suits for job applicant and employees to bring

suit against employers with discriminatory hiring practices

Civil Rights Acts and Voting

Hispanic Americans◦ Coattails of African American’s extension of rights◦ Since 1960’s issues have been undocumented immigrants,

affirmative action and admission of Hispanics to colleges and universities

Native Americans◦ Coattails of African American’s extension of rights◦ AIM◦ 1985 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

Native American tribes allowed on tribal lands to have gaming operations on reservations

Asian Americans ◦ 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act◦ 1942 Executive Order 9066/ 1944 Korematsu v. U.S.◦ 1988 Congress appropriated funds to compensate former camp

detainees

Other Minorities and Civil Rights

Elderly ◦ 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act

People with Disabilities◦ 1973 Rehabilitation Act ◦ 1975 Education for all handicapped Children◦ 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act

Public accommodations wheel chair accessible Telecommunications Relay Service

Gay Rights Movement◦ 1996 Romer v. Evans

Supreme Court struck down state constitutional amendment (CO) that had invalidated state and local laws that protected gays and lesbians from discrimination Violated Equal Protection Clause of 14th amendment

Minorities and Civil Rights

1920 19th Amendment Women got right to vote in federal elections

1963 Equal Pay Act◦ Illegal to be an employee’s pay on gender, race, religion, national origin

1964 Civil Rights Act◦ Banned job discrimination on basis of gender

1971 Reed v. Reed◦ Equal Protection clause denied unreasonable classifications based on

gender 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act/Omnibus Act

Prohibited gender discrimination in hiring, firing, promotions, pay and working conditions

Girls and boys equal opportunity to participate in sports programs 1974 The Equal Credit Opportunity Act

◦ Prohibited discrimination based on gender for seeking loans credit from banks, cannot ask about marital status

1991 Women’s Equity in Employment Act◦ Employers justify gender discrimination in hiring and job performance

Women and Civil Rights

"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: 'now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.' You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair . . . This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result.“

President Johnson, speech given to Howard University graduates 1965

Johnson and Affirmative Action

Policy designed to correct the effects of past discrimination primarily race or gender based

◦ Executive Order 11246 (1965)—federal contracts 1978 Regents v. Bakke

◦ Affirmative action quotas unconstitutional◦ Bakke had been denied equal protection because university used

race as sole criterion 1996 Hopwood v. Texas

◦ Univ. of Texas cannot use race as factor in trying to create student diversity

2003◦ Race can be considered/quotas can not

2006-2014 conservative rulings that have basically ended policy of affirmative action

◦ Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action  Upheld a state constitutional amendment that bans public

universities and colleges from implementing a race sensitive admissions police (Michigan)

Affirmative Action