Civil Rights Equal Rights
Under the Law
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Video: The Big Picture
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IA_1/polisci/presidency/Magleby_Ch15_Civil_Rights_Seg1
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Video: The Basics
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I. Equality and Equal Rights
15.1
A. Americans firmly believe in equality of
opportunity regardless of race, ethnic
origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
B. Political attention is focused on eliminating
existing inequalities.
C. Americans do not agree on equality of
results
Video: In Context
15.1
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IA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg3_CivilRights_v2.html
A. How Citizenship Is Acquired
and Lost
15.1
1. Naturalization (legal act conferring
citizenship)
a. Prior to 1865, states determined citizenship
b. 14th Amendment provided definitions
c. State or federal court (as well as the U.S. Citizens and
Immigration Service) can grant U.S. citizenship
2. Dual Citizenship
a. Each country has its own citizenship criteria
b. For children of U.S. citizens born abroad
Table 15.1: Requirements for naturalization
15.1
B. Rights of U.S. Citizens
15.1
1. Most rights come from state citizenship and
confer the most important rights
2. Rights of national citizenship only grants
freedoms to travel, petition the government,
and vote
3. War-time rights can be restricted, excluding the
Bill of Rights
a. 1941 Internment of Japanese-Americans
Japanese American citizens during World
War II
15.1
C. Rights of Resident Aliens
15.1
1. Aliens may be expelled for minor
infractions or detained during
deportation hearings
2. Aliens enjoy fundamental freedoms
relating to speech, religion, due process,
etc.
3. Aliens can be denied benefits and
employment
4. Children of illegal immigrants have the
right to attend public school
15.1 Which of the following can
grant U.S. citizenship?
a. A state court
b. A federal court
c. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services
d. All of the above
15.1
15.1 Which of the following can
grant U.S. citizenship?
a. A state court
b. A federal court
c. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services
d. All of the above
15.1
II. The Quest for Equal Justice
Citizenship rights have expanded since the
nation’s founding . . .
15.2
A. Racial Equality
15.2
1. Segregation and White Supremacy remained
after the civil war until the 1960s
2. Legal challenges began in the 1930s
culminating
with Brown v. Board of Education 1957
3. Truman desegregated the Armed Forces and
Federal Government
4. Federal Civil Rights Act in 1957 made it a crime to
intimidate or threaten African Americans exercising their
right to vote.
Civil rights activists march in Selma
15.2
B. Women’s Rights
1. Suffrage movement
a. Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention in 1848
b. 19th Amendment ratified in 1920
2. Civil Rights Act 1964
a. Included protection against sexual discrimination
3. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
a. Failed to be ratified
15.2
FIGURE 15.1: Percentage of Bachelor’s
Degrees Awarded, by Sex
15.2
C. Hispanics
1. Legally sanctioned discrimination
2. Non-white immigration met with
suspicion
3. Operation “Wetback” 1954 deported US
born US citizens
4. 2012 Supreme Court upheld AZ law
requiring police to check citizenship
status
5. Hispanic majority in CA and TX which
influences the electorate
15.2
Illegal Immigration
15.2
C. Asian Americans
15.2
1. Chinese Americans (10 million)
a. Naturalization Act of 1906 which made it impossible for
Asians to become US citizens.
b. Repealed in 1943
c. Further amendment made in 1965 ending nationality
criteria
2. Japanese Americans
a. Early 20th c. laws against owning land, attending school
b. Internment during WWII
D. Native Americans
15.2
1. Indian Removal Act in 1830 forcibly
moved to reservations
2. Granted US citizenship in 1924
3. American Indian Movement protested
discrimination (housing, employment,
education)
4. Poverty and unemployment still exist
15.2 Which of the following
granted women the right to vote?
a. The 19th Amendment
b. The 14th Amendment
c. The Voting Rights Act
d. The Civil Rights Act
15.2
15.2 Which of the following
granted women the right to vote?
a. The 19th Amendment
b. The 14th Amendment
c. The Voting Rights Act
d. The Civil Rights Act
15.2
15.3
III. Equal Protection of the Laws:
What Does It Mean?
1. According to the 14th amendment no STATE can DENY
a person “equal protection of the laws.” Individuals
must be treated equally regardless of race
2. The 5th amendment, “due process clause” imposes the
same restrictions on the federal government
3. Clauses apply to the actions of government, not
individuals
4. Created to prevent government discrimination of
certain classifications of groups
Classifications
-Supreme Court must differentiates among
classifications: race, gender, age, poverty,
disability, sexual orientation
-Must determine if classification is “reasonable”
or “unreasonable”
-In general, a classification is unreasonable
when there is no relationship between the
classes it creates and permissible governmental
goals.
A. Constitutional
Classifications and Tests
15.3
1. The Rational Basis Test
a. Legislation must meet a reasonable
government interest.
b. Process engages the govt. in substantive
due process.
c. Romer v Evans (CO vote in 1996) sexual
orientation could not be denied as a
protected classification
1. Strict Scrutiny
a. Law must have “compelling
governmental interest” to justify classification
2. Suspect Classifications
a. court applies strict scrutiny test in order
to subject certain individuals as politically
powerless
b. For example, laws giving employment
preference based on race.
3.Quasi-Suspect Classifications and Heightened
Scrutiny
a. law most show “important governmental
objectives”
A. Constitutional
Classifications and Tests
15.3
1. Poverty and Age: considerable amount of legal
debate regarding these classifications.
a. inequality of schools
b. age is a state issue not federal
2. Sexual Orientation: recent cases have
raised the profile.
3. Fundamental Rights are explicitly and
implicitly guaranteed and discrimination of
these are subjected to Strict Scrutiny
Table 15.2: Major Civil Rights Laws
15.3
Same-sex marriage
15.3
Video: In the Real World
15.3
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IA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg5_CivilRights_v2.html
15.3 All the following require a
governmental burden of interest
EXCEPT
a. Rational basis test
b. Strict scrutiny test
c. Quasi strict scrutiny test
d. Heightened scrutiny test
15.3
15.3 All the following require a
governmental burden of interest
EXCEPT
a. Rational basis test
b. Strict scrutiny test
c. Quasi strict scrutiny test
d. Heightened scrutiny test
15.3
Explore Civil Rights: Are All
Forms of Discrimination the
Same?
15.3
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p_25/pex/pex15.html
IV. Voting Rights
 Protecting Voting Rights
 The Voting Rights Act of 1965
15.4
A. Protecting Voting Rights
15.4
1. Changes in the 1940’s due to increased African American
political presence in cities
a. 1944 Smith v Allwright declared White Primary
unconstitutional
b. 1960 racial gerrymandering declared unconstitutional
c. 1964 poll tax eliminated (24th amendment)
2. Voting Rights Act of 1965
a. prohibits voting qualifications that resulted in a denial of
the right of any citizen
to vote on account of race.
b. prohibits threats or intimidation
c. department of justice must review changes in voting
practices or laws
d. 2013 Supreme Court declared review unconstitutional
Gerrymandering
15.4
15.4 Which of the following prohibits
the use of poll tax?
a. The Civil Rights Act
b. The 14th Amendment
c. The “due process” clause
d. The 24th Amendment
15.4
15.4 Which of the following prohibits
the use of poll tax?
a. The Civil Rights Act
b. The 14th Amendment
c. The “due process” clause
d. The 24th Amendment
15.4
V. Rights to Equal Access:
Accommodations, Jobs, and
Homes
15.5
-After Reconstruction, the Supreme Court upheld government
sanctioned discrimination most famously in Plessy v Ferguson
(separate but equal)
-The court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause allowed
the federal government to legitimize legislation which made
public discrimination based on race, religion, or national
identity a federal crime.
1. 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND PLACES OF
PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION
-ALL PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS MUST BE OPEN TO ALL CUSTOMERS
2. 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND EMPLOYMENT
-BARRED DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORK PLACE
3. FAIR HOUSING ACT AND AMENDMENTS
-HOUSING PATTERNS CONTINUE TO BE SEGREGATED EVEN
THOUGH RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN REMOVED
15.5 Which of the following was used
by the Supreme Court in interpreting
civil rights legislation?
a. The equal protection clause
b. The due process clause
c. The commerce clause
d. The necessary and proper clause
15.5
15.5 Which of the following was used
by the Supreme Court in interpreting
civil rights legislation?
a. The equal protection clause
b. The due process clause
c. The commerce clause
d. The necessary and proper clause
15.5
VI. Education Rights
-National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People’s (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund
(LDF), began filing lawsuits challenging the
“separate but equal” doctrine in the late 1930s
15.6
A. The End of “Separate but
Equal”: Brown v. Board of
Education
1. Brown v. the Board of Education 1954
a. segregation is itself discrimination
b. Decision based on 14th Amendment
c. Instigated school desegregation
2. Title VI enforcement 1964
a. authority to withhold all federal funding to schools,
school districts, or states practicing discrimination
15.6
B. From Segregation to
Desegregation—But Not yet
Integration
15.6
1. Court-ordered busing only if it was undertaken to
remedy the consequences of officially sanctioned
segregation (de jure segregation)
2. Busing could not be forced if segregation was the
result of social and economic conditions (de facto
segregation)
3. 1990s: Return of school controls to States
Brown v. Board of Education
15.6
C. The Affirmative Action
Controversy
15.6
1. Affirmative action programs
a. The attempt to remedy 250 years of
government sanctioned discrimination
b. Extremely controversial
2. University of California Regents v. Bakke
a. Supreme Court finds racial quotas to be
unconstitutional
b. But a University may properly take race and
ethnic background into consideration when
reviewing applicants
C. Reaffirming the Importance
of Diversity
15.6
1. 2003 re-affirmation of Bakke
2. Voter initiative against affirmative action programs
3. Pending cases for Supreme Court involve
affirmative action questions
4. Most recent case upheld at University of Texas
a. universities are allowed to consider diversity a compelling
interest that justify race-based admission policies
b. Equal Protection Clause does not require that state
universities be blind to the history of overt discrimination
Affirmative Action
15.6
Video: Thinking Like a
Political Scientist
15.6
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IA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg4_CivilRights_v2.html
15.6 Which of the following
15.6
challenged the segregation of schools?
a. Brown v the Board of Education
b. University of California Regents v. Bakke
c. Plessy v. Ferguson
d. Marbury v. Madison
15.6 Which of the following
15.6
challenged the segregation of schools?
a. Brown v the Board of Education
b. University of California Regents v. Bakke
c. Plessy v. Ferguson
d. Marbury v. Madison
D. Equal Rights Today
1. Victories just for the middle class and
not the poor.
2. Segregation rising for Hispanics and
Asians
3. The challenge of the government, the
public, and individuals in providing equal
opportunities to all citizens will be to
continue to address those inequities as
they widen across class, as well as socioracial, distinctions.
15.7
15.7 Which group benefits least from
increases in civil rights protection?
a. Women
b. The middle-class
c. The poor
d. The handicapped
15.7
15.7 Which group benefits least from
increases in civil rights protection?
a. Women
b. The middle-class
c. The poor
d. The handicapped
15.7
Explore the Simulation: You
Are a Mayor
15.7
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_1/2013_mpsl_sim/simulation.html?simulaURL=6
Discussion Question
How have recent changes in civil rights,
such as marriage laws, changed society?
How have they affected your life?
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Video: So What?
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