CHAPTER 6 Civil Rights: Equal Protection Under

the Law

Key Terms

· Affirmative action – programs for minorities supported by a government as a means of providing equality under the law

· Americans with Disabilities Act (1991) – act that required employers, schools, and public buildings to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of handicapped individuals by providing such things as ramps and elevators with appropriate facilities

· Brandeis Brief - a friend of the court opinion offered by Louis Brandeis, in the Supreme Court case Muller v Oregon (1908), which spoke about inherent differences between men and women in the workplace

· Civil Rights – the application of equal protection under the law to individuals

· De facto segregation - segregation of schools and other public facilities through circumstance with no law supporting it

· De jure segregation – segregation by law, made illegal by Brown v Board of Education

· Immigration Act of 1991 – act that shifted the quota of immigrants to Europe and aimed to attract immigrants who were trained workers

· Jim Crow laws – legislation that legalized segregation even after the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment

· Nationalization of the Bill of Rights – a judicial doctrine of the Fourteenth Amendment that applied the Bill of Rights to the states in matters such as life, liberty, and property

· Plessy v Ferguson (1896) – case that ruled that states had the right to impose “separate but equal” facilities on its citizens as well as create other laws that segregated the races

· Seneca Falls Convention – in 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the fight for political suffrage and supported a doctrine very similar in nature to the Declaration of Independence called the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. It became a rallying document in the fight for women’s rights.

· Separate but equal – the judicial precedent established in the Plessy v Ferguson decision that enabled states to interpret the equal protection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment as a means of establishing segregation

· Suffrage – the right to vote guaranteed to African-Americans in the Fourteenth Amendment and women in the Nineteenth Amendment

Overview

Civil war solved problem of slavery, but many states still passed Jim Crow laws

Took landmark case Brown v Board of Education to make any progress in civil rights

Many minority groups have faced and still face discrimination

Equal Protection to All

Pre-Fourteenth Amendment era, Bill of Rights was only protections citizens had

Dred Scott case in 1857 established slaves as property based on the due process of the fifth amendment

Took 50 years to reverse Plessy v Ferguson

African-Americans

Brown v Board of Education = most significant Supreme Court decision in history of the Court for black civil rights – redefined meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment

Put end to de jure segregation

Civil Rights Act of 1964 made discrimination in public accommodations illegal

Twenty-Fourth Amendment – made any tax related to the voting process illegal

Voting Rights Act – protected the right of African-Americans to vote

Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Opening House Act) – made illegal the practice of selling real estate based on race, color, religion, national origin, or sex

Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools 1971 – ruled that busing was a legal means of achieving the “all deliberate speed” component of the Brown decision

California Board of Regents v Bakke – Bakke had been victim of “reverse discrimination” – court voted that this race quota violated Bakke’s equal protection and stated that race cannot be used as the sole basis for determining admission

Constitution and Civil Rights Act of 1964 – could be used as a criterion for affirmative action programs

The public has been very critical of affirmative action as a means of achieving civil rights for African-Americans and other minority groups

1988 – Congress passed civil rights legislation that permitted the fed. Gov’t to take away federal funds from colleges that discriminate

Civil Rights Act of 1991 – placed burden on employer to prove that hiring practices are not discriminatory

Affirmative action and Clinton presidency – Pres favored a policy of affirmative action that would “mend it, not end it”

Some states have gotten rid of affirmative action as a whole i.e. CA with Proposition 209

Richmond v Corson 1989 – created the impetus for Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1991

Women

Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 – women led fight for political suffrage; adopted The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan battled for equality of the sexes and ignited a spark for women to begin political organizations like the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the National Women’s Political Caucus

Equal Rights Amendment – wanted same guarantees as Fourteenth Amendment

Equal Pay Act of 1963 – required men and women to be paid the same wage for the same work

Title IX – made sex discrimination in federally funded education programs illegal

Reed v Reed 1971 – state law that favored men over women in the selection of estate’s executor unconstitutional

Sexual harassment has been an issue since Anita Hill raised charges against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

In the recent past, women have made major advances in the workplace, reaching high-profile government jobs

Homosexuals

Bowers v Hardwick 1986 – dealt with legality of a GA antisodomy law

Colorado adopted an initiative titled Amendment 2 that provided that the state could not adopt any laws providing protected status for homosexuals – Roemer v Evans found this to be unconstitutional

Supreme Court voted in 2000 that a homosexual Boy Scout leader could be barred from the position by the Boy Scouts of America’s national organization

New Jersey ruled that the Scouts violated NJ’s public accommodation laws

Bill Clinton established a military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” – but Congress had a difficult time accepting this establishment and declared part of this policy unconstitutional based on the First Amendment free speech provision and the Fifth Amendment due process provision

Other Minority Groups

Senior citizens lobby against Social Security and Medicare cuts

Complaints from senior citizens regarding employer discrimination against them have recently surfaced

Age Discrimination acts – 1967 and 1975 civil rights laws made it illegal for any employer to discriminate against people over 40

Age Discrimination in Employment Act raised compulsory retirement age to 70

Education of All Handicapped Children Act 1975 – gives children the right to an education with appropriate services that meet the needs of specific disabilities

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – required employers, schools, and public buildings to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of handicapped individuals by providing such things as ramps, elevators, and other appropriate facilities

Other court cases have given school officials the right to discipline students for using obscenities, search a student suspected of violating school rules, and randomly drug test athletes

Title IX and Civil Rights Act – prohibit gender discrimination

Students have been given more access to government funding to pay for secondary education in return for national service

Native Americans – The Bureau of Indian Affairs allows Indians living on reservations to be immune from state and federal laws; Indians are given permission to build casinos on their reservations