American Government
and Organization
PS1301
Wednesday, 28 April
Announcements
Survey on book and response pads
Review sheet will be posted on website
SC hears case on “Enemy
Combatants”
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld v. Padilla
The key figures in the cases are both American citizens:
Yaser Hamdi is a U.S.-born Saudi-American who was
captured during fighting in Afghanistan in 2001 and Jose
Padilla is a former Chicago gang member who traveled
to Afghanistan and Pakistan before being arrested at a
Chicago airport in 2002 on suspicion of plotting to
detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States.
At issue is Habeas Corpus: an individual’s right not to be
imprisoned unless charged with a crime, except in time
of “rebellion or invasion”
Listen to today’s historic testimony at the Supreme
Court.
Cases Involving Civil Liberties
Free Speech, Schenck v. United States (1919)

clear and present danger
Freedom of Press, New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Libel violates 1st Amendment
Obscenity, Roth v. United States (1957)

Court attempts to define obscenity
Establishment Clause, Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Three part test for judging constitutionality of division between
church and state
Gun Control, United States v. Miller (1939)

2nd Amendment does not provide for absolute guarantee
Right to Privacy, Roe v. Wade (1973)

Landmark case on abortion
Reasoning
Majority opinions

The Court majority sends a signal to lower courts,
lawyers, potential litigants and others how they are
likely to treat similar cases in the future.
Concurring opinions

Agrees with decision but not reasoning
Dissenting opinions

Explains why they disagreed with the ruling. Dissents
can be important as they lay the groundwork for
future decisions.
What Are Civil Rights?
Americans have applied the term civil
rights to a variety of rights and privileges.
Civil rights represent those protections by
government power. That is, they require
governments to act, whereas civil liberties
are well served when government does
nothing.
Civil Liberties
We classify as civil liberties the Constitution’s
protections from government power.
Freedom of speech, religion and the right to
privacy are examples.
Typically violations of these liberties occur
when some government agency, at any level,
oversteps its authority.
Modern Day Civil Rights
Modern day “civil rights” include
safeguards against any effort by
government or dominant groups in a
community to subjugate another group
and take unfair, mostly economic,
advantage of it.
The concept has advanced well beyond
the “civic” rights of colonial America.
Contemporary Interpretation
Civil rights refers to the equality of all
people, regardless of:
– Race, ethnicity, or national origin
– Religion
– Gender
– Sexual orientation
– Age
– Disability
– Disease (e.g., HIV/AIDS, cancer)
– Weight, etc.
Civil Rights and the 14th
Amendment
•“All persons born or naturalized in the
United States … are citizens of the United
States … No state shall … deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.”
The basic concept is political and legal
equality
But does not guarantee complete
equality
Discrimination on the basis of achievement
& behavior is allowable
– Universities may reward academic merit
– Employers may hire the best qualified
– Laws may punish people who are felons
– Income taxes may discriminate on the
basis of a
person’s income
Civil Rights Movement
The 1964 Civil Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
This aggressive law authorized the Justice Department to
suspend restrictive electoral tests in southern states that had
a history of low black turnout.
Federal officers could be sent into the state to register voters
directly.
States also had to obtain clearance from the Justice
Department before changing their election laws.
Other examples of Civil Rights
Policy - Affirmative Action
Affirmative action was the means used by
the government to redress past
discrimination in employment.
This policy requires any employers or
government agencies that have practiced
discrimination to compensate minorities by
giving them special consideration in their
selection for employment and education.
Affirmative Action
This policy is most controversial when applied to
 Government contracting,
 University admissions to increase minority
enrollment,
 Employment policies to promote minority
presence and advancement in business and
the professions.
Notion of quotas quickly rejected by the Court
and the public. Bakke v. UC Regents 1978
Still, controversy persists.
Affirmative Action
The contentious politics for and against
affirmative action have revolved around
“preferential” criteria.
This criteria gives minorities some advantage in
university admissions, employment, and
government contracts without imposing
numerical quotas.
While a majority of Americans support special
assistance for minorities subjected to past
discrimination, a majority also draws the line at
affirmative action.
Emerging Rights
Americans with Disabilities Act bars
discrimination in employment, transportation,
public accommodation, and telecommunications
against persons with physical and mental
disabilities.
Elderly with help of the American Association of
Retired Persons have worked to end mandatory
retirement.
Can you name some other groups waiting in the
wings?
Emerging Rights
Two recent cases illustrate problems courts
confront in trying to implement the ADA.
In 1999 the Court ruled that an airline that only
hired pilots with 20/20 vision could reject those
who required corrective lenses. They had filed
their suit under ADA utilizing their eyesight as a
disability. But the Court said that because it
could be corrected it was not a disability, so the
law did not apply.
Emerging Rights
In 2001, the Court decided that a golfer
with an atrophied leg could use a golf cart
on the PGA tour despite a rule forbidding
one.
Walking, the Court said, was not
“fundamental” to the game.