APAG Ch. 6 Civil Rights: Beyond Equal Protection

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APAG Ch. 6 Civil RightsBeyond Equal Protection

• Assignment 2 Pages 184-189

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• 1. What is the percentage of Americans today
  that are 65 or older?

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• 13
• Over 65 will more than double by the year 2040

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• 2. What are the problems unique to senior
  citizens?

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• Age discrimination in employment health care and
  income security.

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• 3. What is the most widespread form of
  discrimination?

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• Age discrimination because anyoneregardless of
  race, color, national origin, or gendercould be
  a victim at some point in life.

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• 4. Why are older workers replaced with younger
  workers?

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• Employers feel they are too old to do their
  job. Older employees are fired first when
  companies want to cut cost because they are
  higher paid.

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• 5. What law did Congress pass to protect older
  workers? What does it require of employers?

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• Age discrimination in Employment Act in 1967
  (ADEA)
• It prohibits discrimination against individuals
  on the basis of age unless age is shown to be a
  bona fide occupational qualification reasonably
  necessary to the normal operation of the
  particular business.

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• What is necessary to prove age discrimination
  under the ADEA?

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• An employee must prove that the employers
  action, such as a decision to fire the employee,
  was motivated, at least in part, by age bias.

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• 7. What did the Supreme Court state in Kimel v.
  Florida Board of Regents?

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• The Court held that the sovereign immunity
  granted the states by the Eleventh Amendment to
  the Constitution precluded suits against a state
  by private parties alleging violations of the
  ADEA.

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• 8. What has Congress said about mandatory
  retirement ages?

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• Congress prohibited mandatory retirement rules
  with respect to most employees under the age of
  seventy. In 1986, Congress outlawed mandatory
  retirement rules entirely for all but a few
  selected occupations, such as firefighting.

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• 9. How has voter participation affected
  political power of older Americans? How do they
  compare to younger voters? What does this mean
  in the year 2040?

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• Generally, the over-sixty-five age group ranks
  first in voter registration and in actual turnout
  on election day which gives them political power.
  
• Usually this group of voters have a rate twice
  that of the youngest voting group (those under
  25).
• By 2040, the over-sixty-five age group will be
  the largest voting block and very powerful
  politically.

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• 10. What are the lobbying groups for older
  Americans? How has this translated to benefits
  from Congress?

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• AARP is the largest group. There is also the
  National Retired Teachers Association.
• Because of their lobbying power, older Americans
  have a disproportionate share of government
  spending. Almost half the entire federal budget
  goes to Medicare and Social Security.

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• 11. What are some of the requirements under the
  ADA? When was this act passed?

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• The ADA was passed in 1990.
• It requires that all public buildings and public
  services be accessible to persons with
  disabilities. It mandates that employers must
  reasonably accommodate the needs of workers or
  potential workers with disabilities. Car
  companies are required to have cars with hand
  controls for disabled drivers.

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• 12. Must an employer hire someone disabled if
  they are unqualified for the position?

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• NO

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• 13. What are some of the accommodations that an
  employer must make for a disabled worker?

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• Required accommodations may include installing
  ramps for a wheelchair, establishing more
  flexible working hours, creating or modifying job
  assignments, and creating or improving training
  materials and procedures.

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• 14. What has made the ADA controversial? Give
  some examples.

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• The ADA is controversial because of the
  difficulties in interpreting and applying the
  acts provisions.
• For example, what constitutes a physical or
  mental impairment? At what point does such an
  impairment substantially limit a major life
  activity, and what constitutes a major life
  activity?

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• 15. What percentage of complaints to the EEOC
  have been disability-based discrimination?

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• 20

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• What did the Supreme Court rule in these cases
• a) Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc.
• b) Toyota Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.
  v. Williams
• c) Board of Trustees of the Univ. of Alabama
  v. Garret

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• In Sutton, the Court ruled that a condition that
  can be corrected with medication or a corrective
  device is not considered a disability under the
  ADA.
• In Toyota, the Court ruled that an employee with
  carpal tunnel syndrome who could not perform the
  manual tasks associated with her job did not
  constitute a disability under the ADA because it
  did not substantially limit the major life
  activity of performing manual tasks.

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• c) In Board of Trustees, the Court limited the
  applicability of the ADA by holding that lawsuits
  under the ADA cannot be brought against state
  government employers. The states, as sovereigns,
  are immune from lawsuits brought against them by
  private parties under the federal ADA.

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• 17. What was the shot heard round the
  homosexual world? What organization was formed
  as a result?

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• The Stonewall Inn incident. Police were repeated
  harassing gay men and lesbians at the Stonewall
  Inn in N.Y.C. Finally, the patrons rioted for
  two nights in response.
• The Gay Liberation Front and The Gay Activist
  Alliance were formed as a result.

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• 18. What are the largest gay/lesbian
  organizations and what do they work to change?

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• 18. The Human Rights Campaign Fund and the
  National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are two of
  the largest organizations. Their goal is to see
  federal gay rights laws passed and the repeal of
  state sodomy laws.

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• 19. What has been the basis for discrimination of
  gays and lesbians in the U.S.?

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• Religious beliefs
• For example The Southern Baptist Convention
  called for a boycott of Disney World because the
  company offered health insurance (and other
  benefits) to same sex couples.

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• 20. What happened in the boy Scouts of American
  v. Dale Case? How did the Court rule?

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• Dale, who was openly gay, was removed as a scout
  leader by the Boy Scouts of America. He sued.
  He lost because the Court ruled that a private
  organization has the right to establish
  requirements for membership in the organization.

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• What has happened to the sodomy laws since the
  1960s?

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• Most have been either repealed or struck down as
  unconstitutional because of the right to privacy.

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• What did the Supreme Court rule in Bowers v.
  Hardwick? Will this case be looked back upon in
  the same way as Dred Scott and Plessy?

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• The Court upheld the Georgia law that made it
  illegal to be homosexual.
• Opinion