Civil Rights and Public Policy Chapter 5
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Transcript of Civil Rights and Public Policy Chapter 5
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