Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Chapters 5 & 6
Chpt. 15 Civil Liberties
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Key Terms to Know:
Bill of Rights
Civil liberties
Clear-and-present danger
doctrine
Commercial speech
Due-process clause
Establishment clause
Exclusionary rule
Free-exercise clause
Gitlow v. New York
Incorporation doctrine
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Libel
Mapp v. Ohio
Miranda v. Arizona
Patriot Act
Obscenity
Prior restraint
Probable cause
Search warrant
Slander
Symbolic speech
Essential Questions to Answer:
How do politics and culture affect civil
liberties?
 How important is the first amendment?
 What is speech?
 Who is a person?
 Is there separation between church and
state?
 What is due process?
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Civil Liberties versus Civil Rights
civil liberties involve restraining the
government’s action against individuals
(only the government can violate your
civil liberties)
 civil rights are rights all individuals
share as provided for in the 14th
amendment, which guarantees equal
protection under the law (private
individuals can violate these)
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Civil Liberties
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First Amendment of Bill of Rights
 religion, speech, press, assembly, petition
Fourteenth Amendment
 due process clause
 incorporation—applying the Bill of Rights to
the states
 incorporation began in 1897
 most significant parts of Bill of Rights have
been incorporated
The Constitutional Basis for Our
Civil Liberties
Safeguards in the Original Constitution
 Guarantee of Habeas Corpus
 No bill of attainder
 No ex post facto law
 The Bill of Rights
 Function is to protect the rights of
minority groups against the will of the
majority.
 The Incorporation Issue
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Incorporating the Bill of Rights
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
14th Amendment
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Due Process Clause- (also in 5th Amdmnt)—guarantees
individuals a variety of rights from economic liberty to
criminal procedural rights to protection from arbitrary or
unjust laws)
Incorporation doctrine—most limits on government
contained in the Bill of Rights also apply to the states
Equal Protection Clause—No state shall ... deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws
Freedom of Religion
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The Establishment Clause
 Prayer in the Schools- Engel v. Vitale (1962)
(students cannot be forced to say a prayer
written by the school board)
 Evolution versus Creationism- Epperson v.
Arkansas (can’t prevent teaching evolution)
 Aid to Parochial Schools- Lemon v. Kurtzman
(1971) (lemon test established- constitutional
laws must 1) have a secular purpose 2) have a
primary effect that neither advances nor
prohibits religion, and 3) not foster excessive
government entanglement with religion)
What about posting the 10 Commandments?
 Student religious groups in schools?
 Student led prayer at high school football
games?
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The Free Exercise Clause
 Belief and Practice are Distinct- Reynolds v.
U.S. (government CAN limit acts that are
illegal, even if done in the name of religion,
such as bigamy, snake handling, and use of
illegal drugs)
Freedom of Expression
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permitted restrictions
 Speech that presents a “clear and present danger”
 Commercial speech
 Fighting words
 Slander
 Obscenity and pornography
no prior restraint (government limits info before it is
even published or communicated)
protected speech
 symbolic speech (more protected--burning the
flag, etc.)
 Seditious speech (advocating overthrow of
govmnt)
Seditious Speech
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Schenck v. United States, 1919 (distributing leaflets opposing the draft
during war time was prohibited because it posed a “clear and present
danger”)
Gitlow v. New York, 1925 (14th amndmnt extends the 1st amndnt to
states—state law made it a crime to advocate the duty, need, or
appropriateness of overthrowing government by force or violence—
Court said that the law was constitutional)
Dennis v. United States, 1951 (speech in support of a violent overthrow
of the U.S. government is not protected)
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1969 (government cannot punish inflammatory
speech unless it is directed to inciting and likely to incite imminent
lawless action—overruled Dennis)
Freedom of the Press
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press has some protection from libel charges
 libel must be accompanied by actual malice
the press is now protected from gag orders
during trials, except in unusual circumstances
radio and t.v. have much more limited 1st
Amendment protections
 They are subject to the equal time rule
 Content regulation
The Right to Assemble and
Petition the Government
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protected by the 1st Amendment
can be limited by municipalities’ right to offer
permits for marches
has been tested by anti-loitering ordinances
aimed at reducing gangs from congregating
Freedom of Assembly –must be a balance between
the right of the people to express dissent and the
responsibility of government to keep the peace
Privacy Rights and Abortion
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no explicit right to privacy in Constitution
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) -- Supreme
Court rules that privacy rights exist
(Connecticut said contraceptives were
illegal—court said there is a marital privacy
right)
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comes from the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and
9th Amendments
Roe v. Wade (1973) court rules that privacy
rights include abortion rights
The Right to Privacy
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Do We Have the “Right to Die”?
 Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) (no right for
a patient to seek suicide assistance from a
doctor)
 Some states have passed suicide assistance laws
(generally upheld by the Supreme Court)
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Homosexuality (Lawrence v. Texas, 2003)
The Rights of the Accused
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The Rights of Criminal Defendants
 Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and
seizure.
 Fifth Amendment right against double jeopardy.
The Exclusionary Rule (out of 4th Amendment)
 Mapp v. Ohio (1961)- illegally obtained evidence is not
admissible.
The Miranda Warnings (1966) (out of 5th Amendment)
 Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The Right to Counsel (6th Amendment)
 Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- If accused of a felony, an attorney
must be made available at the government’s expense.
No Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause (8th Amendment)
 Eighth Amendment also prohibits excessive bail and fines.
States that Allow the Death Penalty
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
The Politics of Homeland Security
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Should We Carry National Identification
Cards?
Americans at Odds over Civil
Liberties
Should Hate Speech on Campus Be
Banned?
 Is America One Nation “under God”?
 Should Americans Be More Concerned
about the Erosion of Privacy Rights?
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Discussion
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Why is the Fourteenth Amendment so
important to civil liberties?
Should prayer be encouraged in public
schools?
Should religious accounts of the creation of
life be given equal time with evolution?
What are some important freedom-of-speech
issues on campus?
Have the courts done too much to protect the
rights of the accused, or not enough?
Chpt. 6 Civil Rights
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Key Terms to Know:
Affirmative action
Brown v. BOE
Civil rights
Civil Rights Act 1964
Civil rights movement
De facto segregation
De jure segregation
14th Amendment
Freedom rights
MLK, Jr.
Montgomery bus boycott
NAACP
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Nonviolent civil disobedience
Plessy v. Ferguson
Reasonableness standard
Roe v. Wade
Rosa Parks
Separate-but-equal doctrine
Sit-ins
Strict scrutiny standard
Swann v. CharlotteMecklenburg BOE
Voting Rights Act 1965
Civil Rights History
Constitution originally supported slavery
 1857 Dred Scott
 13th and 14th amendments
 Jim Crow laws
 1896: separate but equal doctrine
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Civil Rights History (cont.)
Segregation common in 20th century
 1910: NAACP forms
 1954: Brown v. Board of Education
 Civil rights movement
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Voting Rights Act of 1965
 Equal Rights Amendment not ratified
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Civil Rights
all rights rooted in the Fourteenth
Amendments’ guarantee of equal
protection under the law
 what the government must do to
ensure equal protection
 what the government must do to
ensure freedom from discrimination
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Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of
1865 to 1875
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The First Civil Rights Act (1866)
 extended citizenship to anyone born
in the United States
 gave African Americans full equality
before the law
 authorized the president to enforce
the act through use of force
Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of
1865 to 1875, (cont.)
The Enforcement Act of 1870
 set out specific penalties for
interfering with the right to vote
 The Anti-Ku Klux Klan Act (1872)
 made it a federal crime to deprive an
individual of his or her rights
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Key Points of the Civil Rights Acts of
1865 to 1875, (cont.)
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The Second Civil Rights Act (1875)
 everyone is entitled to equal
enjoyment of public accommodation
and places of public amusement
 imposed penalties for violators
The Civil Rights Act were nullified
through…
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The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
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 the Supreme Court rules that the 14
amendment only prevents official
discriminatory acts by states, not by
private individuals (this later changed)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
 stated that segregation did not violate the
14th amendment
 established the separate-but-equal doctrine
 provided constitutional justification for
racial segregation, especially in the South
Barriers to Voting by African
Americans
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the white primary – a state primary election in which
only whites may vote
 allowed because Southern politicians claimed
political parties were private entities
 was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944
(Smith v. Allwright)
grandfather clause – restricting voting to individuals
who could prove that their grandfathers had voter
prior to 1867
 was used to exempt whites from poll taxes
 was used to exempt whites from literacy tests
Barriers to voting by African
Americans
(cont.)
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poll taxes – required the payment of a fee to
vote
 intended to disenfranchise poor African
Americans
 was outlawed in national elections by the
24th amendment
 was outlawed in all elections by the
Supreme Court in 1966
literacy tests -- required potential voters to
read, recite or interpret complicated texts
 intended to disenfranchise African
Americans
Ending Legal Segregation
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) –
Supreme Court rules public school segregation
violates the 14th amendment
 overturns Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board of Education (1955) – orders
desegregation “with all deliberate speed”
court–ordered busing: transporting African American
children to white schools and white children to African
American schools to end de facto segregation
Court-ordered busing – transporting African American
children to white schools and white children to
African American schools
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
 forbade discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, gender and national origin in
 voter registration
 public accommodations
 public schools
 expanded the power of the Civil Rights
Commission
 withheld funds from programs administered in a
discriminatory way
 established the right to equality of opportunity in
employment (created the EEOC)
Charges of
Discrimination
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
The Civil Rights Movement
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Rosa Parks Montgomery, Alabama 1955
Martin Luther King, Jr. leads boycott
King’s philosophy of nonviolence
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Civil rights activists emulate King’s use of
Mahatma Ghandi’s tactics of civil disobedience
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Birmingham protest, 1963
March on Washington, 1963
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“I Have a Dream” speech
Black Power movement
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Malcolm X
Modern Civil Rights Legislation,
(cont.)
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Civil Rights Act of 1968
 forbade discrimination in housing
Voting Rights Act of 1965
 outlawed discriminatory voter registration
tests
 authorized federal registration and
administration of voting where
discrimination had taken place
 resulted in massive voter registration
drives of African Americans in the South
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights
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Women’s Suffrage Movement
 was connected to the abolition movement
 suffragists organized the first women’s
right convention at Seneca Falls, NY in
1848
 established women’s suffrage associations
 finally won passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment in 1920
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights,
(cont.)
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The Modern Women’s Movement
 spurred in by the publication of Betty Friedan’s
The Feminine Mystique ( 1963)
 connected to the civil rights movement of the
1960’s
 argued for ratification of the Equal Rights
Amendment
 failed to win the necessary states for ratification
 has targeted gender discrimination by challenging
policies and laws in federal courts
 has advocated and encouraged an increasingly
prominent role for women in government and
politics
“The right of citizens
of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States
or by any State on account of sex.”
Gender-Based Discrimination in
the Work Place
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gender discrimination – any practice, policy or
procedure that denies equality of treatment
to an individual or group because of gender
prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964
applies even to “protective policies,” policies
designed to protect women of child-bearing
age
Gender-Based Discrimination in
the Work Place,
(cont.)
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sexual harassment – unwanted physical or verbal
conduct or abuse of a sexual nature that
 interferes with a recipient’s job performance OR
 creates a hostile environment OR
 carries and implicit or explicit threat of adverse
employment consequences
wage discrimination – women earn 76 cents for every
$1.00 earned by men
the glass ceiling – the phenomenon of women
holding few of the top positions in professions or
businesses
Affirmative Action
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a policy in educational admissions or job
hiring
gives special consideration or compensatory
treatment to traditionally disadvantaged
groups
is an effort to overcome present effects of
past discrimination
Bakke decision, 1978: reverse discrimination
Supreme Court: “strict scrutiny”
Special Protection for Older
Americans
Population Projections
 Attempts to Protect Older Americans
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act
of 1967 – prohibits discrimination on
the basis of age unless age is shown
to be a bona fide occupational
qualification
 Mandatory Retirement – is prohibited
in most occupations by an
amendment to the ADEA (1978)
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More and more old people
© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™
Securing Rights for Persons with
Disabilities
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The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
requires all public buildings and services be
accessible to persons with disabilities
 requires employers make reasonable
accommodations for people with disabilities
 defines “disabilities” as physical or mental
impairments that substantially limit
everyday activities
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Supreme Court ruled that an HIV infection falls under
the protection of the ADA
conditions that can be medically corrected
(medication, glasses) do not fall under ADA
The Rights and Status of Gay Males
and Lesbians
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in decades past, most states had anti-sodomy laws
the Supreme Court upheld a law in Bowers v.
Hardwick (1986) that made homosexual conduct
between two adults a crime (but see Lawrence v.
Texas)
in Romer v. Evans (1996) the Supreme Court ruled
that a Colorado amendment that invalidated state
laws protecting homosexuals violated the equal
protection clause
now 12 states and 165 municipalities have laws that
protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination
The Rights and Status of Juveniles
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parents are viewed as protectors of children’s rights
the 26th amendment grants 18-21 year olds the right
to vote
most contracts entered into by minors cannot be
enforced
parents can be held liable for minor’s negligent
actions
minors are sometimes viewed as incapable of
criminal intent
when minors are tried as adults, they are afforded
the same protections, but are subject to adult
penalties (including the death penalty)
The Politics of Homeland Security
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Racial Profiling in the War on Terrorism
Discussion
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In what circumstances is bilingual education
warranted?
What still needs to be done in the area of civil
rights?
Should gays and lesbians have the same
rights as heterosexuals?
Should affirmative action be extended?
Abolished?
What policies are necessary to promote
gender equality?
Essential Questions we Should Have
Answered by Now:
What was the “Black Predicament”?
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How do the courts influence civil rights?
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How does Congress influence civil rights?
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What is the stance for women and equal rights?
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What is affirmative action?
Lets Tackle These:
1.
Should numerical goals ever be used to ensure that
students and workers are drawn from every racial group?
2.
To what extent should the government be able to limit the
opportunity to have an abortion?
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Key Concepts to Remember:
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2.
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution
to protect individual rights from encroachment
by the federal government.
Since the 1920’s, the 14th Amendment’s Due
Process clause has been interpreted to include
most of the protections guaranteed in the Bill of
Rights and to prevent states from infringing on
those rights. This is known as the Incorporation
Doctrine and the process is called “selective
incorporation.”
Key Concepts to Remember:
3. The rights conferred by the Constitution are not
absolute, and the extent of protection afforded by
the Constitution has varied over time depending
on a variety of political conditions, including the
composition of the Supreme Court. It is the S.C.
that plays the major role, but not the only one, in
guaranteeing individual rights and liberties.
Ultimately, the nature of the rights and liberties
enjoyed by Americans is determined through the
political process.
Key Concepts to Remember:
4. Civil liberties are legal and constitutional protections
against the government. Civil rights are policies that
extend basic rights to groups historically subject to
discrimination.
5. Americans have never fully come to terms with the concept
of equality and the Equal Protection clause of the 14th
Amendment. With the abandonment of the “separate but
equal” doctrine in 1954 and the rise of the civil rights and
women’s movements, the federal government has leaned
toward policies aimed at tearing down the barriers
represented by racial and other forms of discrimination.
These policies, however, continue to stir major
controversies within society as illustrated by the ongoing
debate over affirmative action programs.