Civil Rights in America

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Civil Rights in America
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• CIVIL RIGHTS-
• CIVIL LIBERTIES-
• I.) Equal Protection Clause in
• the 14th Amendment-
• Rational Basis-Application of the rational
  basis test almost always means a ruling favorable
  to the government...but some groups now afford
  some protection by the courts.
• Middle Scrutiny- a."Important"objective Here,
  the governmental objective has to be"important"
  (half way between "legitimate" and
  "compelling").b. "Substantially related" means
  And, the means chosen by the government must be
  "substantially related" to the important
  government objective.
• Strict Scrutiny-First, it must be
  justified by a compelling governmental interest.
  Second, the law or policy must be narrowly
  tailored to achieve that goal or interest.
  Finally, the law or policy must be the least
  restrictive means for achieving that interest.

GROUP ACTIVITY- summarize article
What is the classification being
used? Which test would be used? Why? What is (W
hat would be) the justification by the government
for the distinction? Should this distinction be a
llowed? Why or why not?
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• II.) History of Racial Discrimination in the
  Courts and Society
  
• A.) Pre-Civil War
• 1.) Slavery
• a.) Dred-Scott v. Sanford (1856-57)
• B.) Civil War/Reconstruction
• 1.) Emancipation Proclamation-
• 2.) 13th Amendment-
• 3.) Civil Rights Act of 1866-
• 4.) 14th Amendment-
• 5.) 15th Amendment-
• 6.) Civil Rights Act of 1875-

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• C.) The Failure of Reconstruction- Jim Crow and
  Black Codes
  
• 1.) Civil Rights Act of 1875 Voided (1883)-
• 2.) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)-
• Results Black Codes-
• 3.) Buchanan v. Warley (1917)-
• 4.) Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada (1938)-
• 5.) White Primary? 1944

But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of
the law, there is in this country no superior,
dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no
caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and
neither knows nor tolerates classes among
citizens. In respect of civil rights, all
citizens are equal before the law.
Residential segregation based on race violated
the Fourteenth Amendment
Petitioner Lionel Lloyd Gaines was refused
admission at University of Missouri School of Law
because he is black he was otherwise qualified.
Does providing for the legal education of
Missouri blacks in other states satisfy equal
protection?
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• D.) The Second Reconstruction (1947-1968)
• 1.) Origins
• 2.) Baseball (1947) and Army desegregated
• 3.) Brown v. Board of Education of
• Topeka Kansas (1954)-
• 4.) Civil Rights Act of 1964- equality before
  the law
  
• a.) Title II-
• b.) Title VI-
• c.) Title VII-
• 5.) Voting Rights Act of 1965-
• 6.) Civil (Housing) Rights Act of 1968-

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De-Facto Segregation

• Courts take in the 70s-80s
• Since Board of Education v Dowell (1991)
• De Facto is now okay
• How it works at SHS

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• E.) Reverse Discrimination?/Affirmative Action
• 1.) Regents of the University of California v.
  Bakke (1978)-
  
• 2.) Wygant v. Jackson Board of Ed. (1986)-
• 3.) St. Francis College v. Al-Khazraji (1987)-
• 4.) Johnson v. Transportation Agency of Santa
  Clara County (1987)-
  
• 5.) Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Antonio (1989)-
• 6.) CCRI/Proposition 209 (1996)- California
  State Amendment "The state shall not
  discriminate against, or grant preferential
  treatment to, any individual or group on the
  basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national
  origin in the operation of public employment,
  public education, or public contracting" 54
  percent
• post-Proposition 209 era due to decreased African
  American and Latino enrollment.
  
• 7.) University of Michigan-Gratz v. Bollinger
  Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)-
  

it was not unreasonable to consider sex as one
factor among many in making promotion decisions,
and that the Agency's actions did not create an
absolute barrier to the advancement of men.
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• III.) Gender Discrimination in the Courts and
  Society
  
• A.) Fight for Equality
• 1. Traditional Roles-
• 2.) Womens Rights Movement evolves
• a.) Seneca Falls Convention
• i.) growth out of Abolitionist movement
• b.) Participation during the
  War
  
• i.) 19th Amendment
• 3.) Phase Two
• a.) growth out Civil Rights Movement
• b.) Civil Rights Act of 1964
• i.) Title VII
• Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment
  on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or
  national origin. In certain instances,
  differential treatment is allowed for religion,
  sex, or national origin if it is a bona fide
  occupational qualification. Sexual harassment is
  also prohibited under this law as are all forms
  of harassment based on membership in a protected
  class.
• c.) ERA- (1970s) The Equal Rights Amendment,
  first proposed in 1923, is still not part of the
  U.S. Constitution. The ERA has been ratified by
  35 of the necessary 38 states. Equality of
  rights under the law shall not be denied or
  abridged by the United States or by any state on
  account of sex.
• d.) Title IX of the 1972 Education Act- that
  no one shall because of sex
  
• be denied the benefits of any educational
  program or activity that receives direct
  federal aid. .... video clip
  

B.) Control Over Reproduction 1.) Roe v. Wade (
1973) 7-2 decision- 2.) Webster v. Reproductive
Health Services (1989)- 3.) Planned Parenthood
of S.E. Penn. v. Casey (1992)-
upheld the right to
have an abortion but lowered the standard for
analyzing restrictions of that right,
4.) Partial Birth Abortion- 18 to 26 weeks
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Other Modern Issues?

• Gay Rights in America
• Romer v. Evans (1996) he amendment imposes a
  special disability upon those persons alone.
  Homosexuals are forbidden the safeguards that
  others enjoy or may seek without constraint.
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000) (5-4)
• Lawrence v Texas (2003) The Texas statute making
  it a crime for two persons of the same sex to
  engage in certain intimate sexual conduct
  violates the Due Process Clause.
• Immigrant Rights
• Plyler v Doe (1982) involved a challenge to a
  Texas law that denied to the children of illegal
  aliens a public education.
  
• Age Based Issues?
• Sexual Harassment
• Education

One century ago, the first Justice Harlan
admonished this Court that the Constitution
"neither knows nor tolerates classes among
citizens." Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896) (dissenting
opinion). Unheeded then, those words now are
understood to state a commitment to the law's
neutrality where the rights of persons are at
stake. The Equal Protection Clause enforces this
principle.