American Politics
and Government
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
Quick Review
• Civil Liberties
– What the government cannot do
– Protection of the citizens from the
government
• Civil Rights
– What the government must do
– Protection of the citizens from each
other
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Today’s Momentous Cases
• Virginia v. Black
• Texas v. Johnson
• United States v. Nixon
• DeJonge v. Oregon
• Engle v. Vitale
• Pierce v. Society of Sisters
• Wisconsin v. Yoder
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Virginia v. Black
538 U.S. 343 (2003)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
Virginia v. Black (2003)
• Background
– Black, Elliott, and O'Mara were
convicted separately of violating a
Virginia statute that makes it a
felony to burn a cross
– Ultimately, the Virginia Supreme
Court held, among other things,
that the cross-burning statute is
unconstitutional on its face and
that the prima facie evidence
provision renders the statute
overbroad because the probability
of prosecution under the statute
chills the expression of protected
speech
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Virginia v. Black (2003)
• Question
– Does the Commonwealth of
Virginia’s cross-burning statute,
which prohibits the burning of a
cross violate the First Amendment?
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Virginia v. Black (2003)
• Conclusion
– Yes
– In a plurality opinion delivered by
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the
Court held that while a State,
consistent with the First
Amendment, may ban cross
burning carried out with the intent
to intimidate, in which four other
justices joined, the provision in the
Virginia statute treating any cross
burning as prima facie evidence of
intent to intimidate renders the
statute unconstitutional in its
current form
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Texas v. Johnson
491 U.S. 397 (1989)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
US v. Nixon
418 U.S. 683 (1974)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
DeJonge v. Oregon
299 U.S. 353 (1937)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
Engle v. Vitale
370 U.S. 421 (1962)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
Pierce v.
Society of Sisters
268 U.S. 510 (1925)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government
Pierce v. Society of Sisters
• Background
– The Compulsory Education Act of
1922 required parents or guardians
to send children between the ages
of eight and sixteen to public
school in the district where the
children resided. The Society of
Sisters was an Oregon corporation
which facilitated care for orphans,
educated youths, and established
and maintained academies or
schools. This case was decided
together with Society of Sisters v.
Hill Military Academy.
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Pierce v. Society of Sisters
• Question
– Did the Act violate the liberty of
parents to direct the education of
their children?
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Pierce v. Society of Sisters
• Answer
– Yes.
– The unanimous Court held that
"the fundamental liberty upon
which all governments in this Union
repose excludes any general power
of the State to standardize its
children by forcing them to accept
instruction from public teachers
only."
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Wisconsin v. Yoder
406 U.S. 205 (1972)
PLS 121: American Politics and Government