Due Process and Equal Protection
I.
Due Process
A.
5th Amendment
B.
Procedural
C.
Substantive – Is a Fundamental Right being Violated?
1.
Yes – Compelling State Interest Test
2.
No – Rational Basis Test
th
D.
14 Amendment (1868)
1.
Application of Bill of Rights to the States
2.
Doctrine of Incorporation
II.
Equal Protection
A.
14th Amendment (1868)
B.
Issue – Does the law create a suspect classification?
1.
Yes – Compelling State Interest Test
2.
No – Rational Basis Test
III.
Pre-Civil War Interpretation of the Bill of Rights
A.
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
B.
Political Impact – Slavery Issue
C.
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
1.
Court Decision
2.
Taney’s Dictum
IV.
Civil War Amendments to the Constitution
A.
13th Amendment – Ends Involuntary Servitude
B.
14th Amendment – Defines Federal and State Citizenship
C.
15th Amendment – Voting Rights Made a Fundamental Right
D.
Federal Power Expanded to Make and Enforce Legislation to put
the Three Amendments into Effect
V.
Post-Civil War/Gilded Age Interpretation of the 14th Amendment
A.
Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
1.
Majority Opinion
a.
Defines Citizenship
b.
Highlights Residency as Requirement for State
Citizenship
2.
Dissenting Opinion
3.
Political Impact
a.
“Jim Crow” Laws
1.
Literacy Tests for Voting
2.
Poll Taxes
3.
White Primaries
4.
Grandfather Clauses
b.
“Equal Protection” Ignores Racial Segregation
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
“Lochner Era” – Economic Due Process
1.
Court Elevates Right of Contract to Fundamental Status
2.
Conventional Morality – Laissez Faire
3.
Sample Cases
a.
Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897)
b.
Lochner v. New York (1905)*****
c.
Muller v. Oregon (1908)
d.
Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)
e.
Weaver v. Palmer Bros. (1926)
Impact of the Great Depression and New Deal
1.
Nebbia v. New York (1934)
2.
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937)
3.
United States v. Carloene Products (1938)
a.
Majority Opinion
b.
Stone’s Dictum – Carloene Products Footnote
Demise of the Fundamental Right of Contract
1.
Rational Basis Test
2.
Williamson v. Lee Optical (1955)
3.
Ferguson v. Skrupa (1963)
Empowerment of Special Interest Groups since the 1940s
Court Re-Focuses on Equal Protection rather than Right of
Contract
Other Rights, Previously Considered as Political Questions Now
Being Heard by the Court
1.
Voting
2.
Privacy?