ap gov chpt 6
Which of the following does the Supreme Court currently deem constitutional?
"De facto" segregation
14th Amendment civil rights portion
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
key phrase in the 14th amendment that dealt with civil rights
"equal protection of the laws."
what does "equal protection of the laws." mean when read narrowly.
"equal protection" might mean only that blacks and whites had certain fundamental legal rights in common, among them the right to sign contracts, to serve on juries, or to buy and sell property, but otherwise they could be treated differently.
preferential treatment
"giving minorities preference in hiring, promotions, college admissions, and contracts." - a large majority opposes this
compensatory action
"helping disadvantaged people catch up, usually by giving them extra education, training, or services." -A majority of the public supports this.
examples when separate treatment is OK (4)
-A law that punishes males but not females for statutory rape is permissible; men and women are not "similarly situated" with respect to sexual relations. • All-boy and all-girl public schools are permitted if enrollment is voluntary and quality is equal. • States can give widows a property-tax exemption not given to widowers. • The navy may allow women to remain officers longer than men without being promoted.
examples of actions ruled unconstitutional that treated women separate (8)
-A state cannot set different ages at which men and women legally become adults. • A state cannot set different ages at which men and women are allowed to buy beer. • Women cannot be barred from jobs by arbitrary height and weight requirements. • Employers cannot require women to take mandatory pregnancy leaves. -Girls cannot be barred from Little League baseball teams. • Business and service clubs, such as the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, cannot exclude women from membership. • Though women as a group live longer than men, an employer must pay them monthly retirement benefits equal to those received by men. • High schools must pay the coaches of girls' sports the same as they pay the coaches of boys' sports.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1965 : voter registration (prolly not impt)
-Authorized appointment by the Civil Service Commission of voting examiners who would require registration of all eligible voters in federal, state, and local elections, general or primary, in areas where discrimination was found to be practiced or where less than 50 percent of voting age residents were registered to vote in the 1964 election. -The law was to have expired in 1970, but Congress extended it; it will expire in 2007. .
the Colorado constitutional amendment on homosexuality
-The voters in Colorado had adopted a state constitutional amendment that made it illegal to pass any law to protect persons based on their "homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual orientation." - The law did not penalize gays and lesbians; instead it said that they could not become the object of specific legal protection of the sort that had traditionally been given to racial or ethnic minorities. (Ordinances to give specific protection to homosexuals had been adopted in some Colorado cities.)
what were the guidelines set by Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education for all subsequent cases involving school segregation.
-To violate the Constitution, a school system, by law, practice, or regulation, must have engaged in discrimination. (Put another way, a plaintiff must show an intent to discriminate on the part of the public schools. ) • The existence of all-white or all-black schools in a district with a history of segregation creates a presumption of intent to discriminate. -The remedy for past discrimination will not be limited to freedom of choice, or what the Court called "the walk-in school." Remedies may include racial quotas in the assignment of teachers and pupils, redrawn district lines, and court-ordered busing. • Not every school must reflect the social composition of the school system as a whole.
strict scrutiny test example
-distinctions based on race, ethnicity, religion, or voting must pass the strict scrutiny test. - you cannot bar black children from a public school -or black adults from voting, -you cannot prevent one religion from knocking on your door to promote its views
Intermediate Scrutiny standard
-if the policy 'serves an important government interest" and is substantially related" to serving that interest, it is unconstitutional. -The middle level of scrutiny (between the reasonable and strict scrutiny tests) the courts can use when determining whether a law is constitutional. - a law that treats men and women differently must be more than merely reasonable but the allowable differences need not meet the strict scrutiny tests.
The reasonableness standard.
-if the policy used reasonable means to achieve a legitimate government goal, it is constitutional -so when the government treats some classes of people differently from others—for example, applying statutory rape laws to men but not to women— the different treatment must be reasonable and not arbitrary.
Intermediate Scrutiny standard example
-men can be punished for statutory rape even if women are not punished because men and women are not "similarly situated". -men can be barred from entering hospital delivery rooms even though [obviously] women are admitted.
Reverse discrimination occurs when:
-one group is unintentionally discriminated against in an effort to help another group -a more qualified white male applicant is rejected in favor of a minority applicant
affirmative action
-preferential hiring practices -Programs designed to increase minority participation in some institution (businesses, schools, labor unions, or government agencies) by taking positive steps to appoint more minority-group members.
reverse discrimination
-the const. and laws should be color-blind and sex-neutral. -Using race or sex to give preferential treatment to some people.
disadvantages of nonviolent civil disobedience?(3)
-the momentum of protest, once unleashed, could not be centrally directed or confined to nonvi-olent action. -A rising tide of anger, especially among younger blacks, resulted in the formation of more militant organizations and the eruption of violent demonstrations and riots in dozens of cities across the country. -The demonstrations and rioting succeeded in getting civil rights on the national political agenda, but at a cost: many whites, opposed to the demonstrations or appalled by the riots, dug in their heels and fought against making any concessions to "lawbreakers," "troublemakers," and "rioters."
strict scrutiny test
-to be constitutional, the discrimination must serve a "compelling government interest", it must be "narrowly tailored" to attain that interest, and it must use the "least restrictive means" to attain it. -a test applied by the court when a classification is based on race; the government must show that there is a compelling reason for the law and no other less restrictive way to meet the interest -This says that some instances of drawing distinctions between different groups of people—for example, by treating whites and blacks differently—are inherently suspect; thus the Court will subject them to strict scrutiny to ensure that they are clearly necessary to attain a legitimate state goal.
steps in the strategy of the NAACP To get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks
1) persuade the Court to declare unconstitutional laws creating schools that were separate but obviously unequal. 2) persuade it to declare unconstitutional laws supporting schools that were separate but unequal in not-so-obvious ways. 3) persuade it to rule that racially separate schools were inherently unequal and hence unconstitutional.
Four developments that made it possible to break the deadlock in congress on passing civil rights bills
1) public opinion was changing. (whites came to care less abt being around blacks and there was occurring a major shift in popular approval of at least the principles of civil rights.) 2) certain violent reactions by white segregationists to black demonstrators were vividly portrayed by the media in ways that gave to the civil rights cause a powerful moral force. 3) President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the shock of the president's murder— in a southern city—helped build support for efforts by the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson to obtain passage of a strong civil rights bill as a memorial to the slain president. 4) the 1964 elections returned Johnson to office with a landslide victory and also sent a huge Democratic majority to the House and retained the large Democratic margin in the Senate. This made it possible for northern Democrats to outvote or southerners in the House. The cumulative effect of these forces
3 standards used to decide if a government policy produces unconst. discrimination
1) reasonableness 2)intermediate scrutiny 3)strict scrutiny
What guidelines were set up from the Swan case?
1) to violate the constitution, a school system, by law, practice, or regulation, must have engaged in discrimination. a plaintiff must show an intent to discriminate on the part of the public schools. 2) The existence of all-white or all-black schools in a district with a history of segregation creates a presumption of intent to discriminate. 3)The remedy for past discrimination will not be limited to freedom of choice, or what the Court called "the walk-in school." Remedies may include racial quotas in the assignment of teachers and pupils, redrawn district lines, and court-ordered busing. 4)Not every school must reflect the social composition of the school system as a whole.
sexual harassment can take what two forms?
1)it is illegal for someone to request sexual favors as a condition of employment or promotion. If a person does this, the employer is "strictly liable 2) it is illegal for an employee to experience a work environment that has been made hostile or intimidating by a steady pattern of offensive sexual teasing, jokes, or obscenity. (But employers are not strictly liable in this case; they can be found at fault only if they were "negligent"—that is, they knew about the hostile environment but did nothing about it. )
Why did the Court rely on social science as much as or more than the Constitution in supporting its decision?
1)the justices' realized that the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment may not have intended to outlaw segregated schools (The schools in Washington, D.C., were segregated when the amendment was proposed.) 2) The other reason grew out of the first. On so important a matter the chief justice wanted to speak for a unanimous court. Some justices did not agree that the Fourteenth Amendment made the Constitution color-blind. In the interests of harmony the Court found an ambiguous rationale for its decision.
On the other hand, name five states that will use public funds to give people free abortions:
1.California 2.Connecticut 3.Hawaii 4.Maryland 5.New Jersey
What seem to be the three most common ways in which the courts allow states to restrict abortion?
1.Mandatory counseling and 24-hour waiting period: 2.Parental consent 3.20 week ban: Abortion procedures are banned after 20 weeks, unless the woman's life is in danger or her physical health is severely compromised.
impt doc in deciding equal rights for women?
14th amendment
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
A Louisiana law required railroad companies to provide equal, but separate, facilities for white and black passengers. A mixed-race customer named Homer Plessy rode in the whites-only car and was arrested. Plessy argued that the Louisiana law violated the 14th Amendment by treating black passengers as inferior to white passengers. The Supreme Court declared that segregation was legal as long as facilities provided to each race were equal. The justices reasoned that the legal separation of the races did not automatically imply that the black race was inferior and that legislation and court rulings could not overcome social prejudices. Justice Harlan wrote a strong dissent, arguing that segregation violated the Constitution because it permitted and enforced inequality among people of different races.
The standard of strict scrutiny applies to which of following cases?
A federal court rules in a race-based discrimination case.
problem with the freedom of choice plan
As it turned out, all the white children chose to remain in the all-white school, and 85 percent of the black children remained in the all-black school.
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale(2000): ruling
A private organization may ban gays from its membership because that group had a right to determine its own membership.
Which of the following is an example of de facto segregation?
A real-estate broker refuses to sell a house in a white neighborhood to a Hispanic family.
Richmond v. Croson (1989):
Affirmative action plans must be judged by the strict scrutiny standard that requires any race-conscious plan to be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 :schools
Authorized the attorney general to bring suit to force the desegregation of public schools on behalf of citizens.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1968: housing(prolly not impt)
Banned, by stages, discrimination in sale or rental of most housing (excluding private owners who sell or rent their homes without the services of a real-estate broker).
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 :federal funds
Barred discrimination in any activity receiving federal assistance.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 : public accomidations
Barred discrimination on grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin in restaurants, hotels, lunch counters, gasoline stations, movie theaters, stadiums, arenas, and lodging houses with more than five rooms.
The armed forces' "don't ask, don't tell" policy was announced by
Bill Clinton
The phrase "with all deliberate speed" is derived from
Brown v. Board of Education
The desegregation of public schools was initiated by the Supreme Court decision in
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
which case said that Gender discrimination can only be justified if it serves "important gov-ernmental objectives" and be "substantially re-lated to those objectives."
Craig v. Boren (1976):
United Steelworkers v. Weber (1979):
Despite the ban on racial classifications in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, this case upheld the use of race in an employment agreement between the steelworkers union and steel plant.
key provision of the civil rights act of 1991 and explanation: (prolly not impt)
Discrimination : Made it easier to sue over job discrimination and collect damages; overturned certain Supreme Court decisions. Made it illegal for the government to adjust, or "norm," test scores by race.
key provision of the civil rights act of 1988 and explanation(prolly not impt)
Discrimination: If any part of an organization receives federal aid, no part of that organization may discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, or physical handicap.
court case that said that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in a territory. A slave was considered a piece of property. .
Dred Scott Case (Scott v. Sanford, 1857):
Which of the following constitutional amendments, whether enacted or only proposed, is correctly paired with a Supreme Court decision it was intended to overrule?
Dred Scott v. Sanford - the Fourteenth Amendment
key provision of the civil rights act of 1972 and explanation(prolly not impt)
Education : Prohibited sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal aid.
which case said that Congress can draft men without drafting women wo violating he due process clause
Rostker v. Goldberg(1981):
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 : employment
Outlawed discrimination in hiring, firing, or paying employees on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
Right of women vs. the right of the states to protect life. Which applies? What rationale?
First trimester: a woman's right to privacy surrounding the choice to have an abortion outweighs a state's interests in regulating this decision. During this stage, having an abortion does not pose a grave danger to the mother's life and health, and the fetus is still undeveloped. The state's interests are not yet compelling, so it cannot regulate or prohibit her from having an abortion. Second trimester:the state's interests become more compelling as the danger of complications increases and the fetus becomes more developed. During this stage, the state may regulate, but not prohibit, abortions, as long as the regulations are aimed at protecting the health of the mother. Third trimester:the danger to the woman's health becomes the greatest and fetal development nears completion. In the final trimester, the state's interests in protecting the health of the mother and in protecting the life of the fetus become their most compelling. The state may regulate or even prohibit abortions during this stage, as long as there is an exception for abortions necessary to preserve the life and health of the mother.
why did the Court order the all-white University of Oklahoma Law School to admit Ada Lois Sipuel, a black, even though the state planned to build a black law school later?
For education to be equal, it had to be equally available. 10 It still could be separate, however: the university admitted Ms. Sipuel but required her to attend classes in a section of the state capitol, roped off from other students, where she could meet with her law professors.
equality of opportunity
Giving people an equal chance to succeed.
Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
Herman Sweatt was rejected from the University of Texas Law School because he was black. He sued school officials alleging a violation of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court examined the educational opportunities at the University of Texas Law School and a new law school at the Texas State University for Negroes and determined that the facilities, curricula, faculty, and other tangible factors were not equal. Therefore, they ruled that Sweatt's rights had been violated. In addition to the more straightforward criteria, the justices examined at the two schools, they reasoned that other factors, such as the reputation of the faculty and influence of the alumni, could not be equalized.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1968: (2)(prolly not impt)
Housing Riots
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court ruled that I. Scott had no standing because he was a slave II. Scott had no standing because he was black III. Congress could not ban slavery in the territories
I, II, and III
The "Civil War amendments" include The "Civil War amendments" include the I. Thirteenth Amendment II. Fourteenth Amendment III. Fifteenth Amendment IV. Sixteenth Amendment
I, II, and III only
In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and Gratz v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional for a university to I. Accept less qualified applicants based on race alone II. Include race among a number of factors of admission III. Establish quotas for minority-group admission IV. Use an admissions system that gives extra points to minority applicants
II only
With regards to race, the Supreme Court in recent years has permitted I. "De jure" segregation II. "De facto" segregation III. "Separate but equal" segregation
II only
What was decided in Bowers v. Hardwick? How did Lawrence v. Texas overruled it?
In Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court decided the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults or homosexual sodomy. in Lawrence v Texas, The Court repeated the language it had used earlier in cases involving contraception and abortion. If "the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion" into sexual matters. The right of privacy means the "right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." It specifically overruled Bowers v. Hardwick.
How did the separate but equal doctrine come about?
In Plessy, the court said that: "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional because if "one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane. it said that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978):
In a confused set of rival opinions, the decisive vote was cast by Justice Powell, who said that a quota-like ban on Bakke's admission was unconstitutional but that "diversity" was a legitimate goal that could be pursued by taking race into account. (contradictory ruling)
Which of the following best describes the decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke?
It banned the use of racial quotas in public university admissions.
how was brown v board of education decision implimented?
It could not be effected overnight or by the stroke of a pen. In 1955 the Supreme Court decided that it would let local federal district courts oversee the end of segregation by giving them the power to approve or disapprove local desegregation plans. This was to be done "WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED"
Which of the following was an actual weakness of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
It provided for little initial enforcement power.
Why did the NAACP decide take a court approach to challenge court decisions that discriminated against blacks ?
It was a rational strategy. Fighting legal battles does not require forming broad political alliances or changing public opinion, tasks that would have been very difficult for a small and unpopular organization. It also enabled the organization to remain nonpartisan. (sadly it was a slow and difficult strategy)
court case that said State law may not ban sexual relations between same-sex partners.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003):
Bowers v. Hardwick was overruled by?
Lawrence v. Texas,
Suspect classifications -
Laws that categorize based on race, ethnicity, and national origin, are considered suspect and therefore require closer judicial examination. Such laws are subject to strict scrutiny and are invalid unless they are necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest.
Plessy v. Ferguson; facts of the case
Louisiana had passed a law requiring blacks and whites to occupy separate cars on railroad trains operating in that state. When Adolph Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, refused to obey the law, he was arrested. He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, claiming that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1968: riots(prolly not impt)
Made it a federal crime to use inter-state commerce to organize or incite a riot.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 : voting
Made it more difficult to use devices such as literacy tests to bar African Americans from voting.
equality of result
Making certain that people achieve the same result.
How are the two ways in which same sex marriage has been (was, since it is no longer a state matter. See below.) authorized by the states?
Many states have passed laws banning same-sex marriages. the massachusetts supreme judicial court said that homosexuals must be allowed to be married in the state. the mayor of san francisco began issuing marriage licences to gay and lesbian couples however, the california supreme court struck down his actions as inconsistent with existing law.
Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003):
Numerical benefits cannot be used to admit minorities into college, but race can be a "plus factor" in making those decisions.
civil disobedience
Opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully disobeying it and accepting the resultant punishment. -i.e sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and "freedom rides" on segregated bus lines
freedom of choice plan
Plan by the school board of new Kent county, Virginia in which every pupil would be allowed without legal restriction to attend the school of his or her choice.
The major decision that was to determine the legal status of the Fourteenth Amendment for over half a century was
Plessy v. Ferguson.
what case established the separate but equal doctrine
Plessy v. Ferguson.
Why and how was the deadlock on Civil Rights in Congress broken in 1964?
Public opinion was changing and support for principles of civil rights began increasing. Certain violent reactions by white segregationists to black demonstrators were vividly portrayed by the media in ways that gave to the civil rights cause a powerful moral force. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the shock of the president's murder (in a southern city) helped build support for efforts by the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, to obtain passage of a strong civil rights bill as a memorial to the slain president. Also, 1964 elections sent a huge Democratic majority to the House and retained the large Democratic margin in the Senate. This made it possible for northern Democrats to outvote or out maneuver southerners in the House. The cumulative effect of these forces led to the enactment of five civil rights laws between 1957 and 1968.
Racial profiling is a debate best characterized by which of the following statements?
Racial profiling is an inherently discriminatory practice, but advocates claim it is for the common good by capturing criminals.
de jure segregation
Racial segregation that is required by law.
de facto segregation
Racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement.
which case said that Gender discrimination violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
Reed v. Reed (1971):
police powers
State power to effect laws promoting health, safety, and morals. -they include all laws designed to promote public order and secure the safety and morals of the citizens.
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1965 :literary tests(prolly not impt)
Suspended use of literacy tests or other devices to prevent African Americans from voting
court case that pretty much set the guidelines for all subsequent cases involving school segregation.
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
which Civil Rights Act bans sex discrimination in local education programs re-ceiving federal aid.
The 1972 Civil Rights Act
Which of the following had the LEAST effect on the women's rights movement?
The Civil Rights Act of 1991
Plessy v. Ferguson: court ruling
The Court rejected Plessy's claim, holding that the law treated both races equally even though it required them to be separate. established the separate but equal-protection doctrine
how did the supreme court fix the freedom of choice plan issue
The Court rejected this plan as unconstitutional because it did not produce the "ultimate end," which was a "unitary, nonracial system of education." In the opinion written by Justice William Brennan, the Court seemed to be saying that the Constitution required actual racial mixing in the schools, not just the repeal of laws requiring racial separation.
exact words used by the court to defend its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas,
The Court repeated the language it had used earlier in cases involving contraception and abortion. If "the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion" into sexual matters. The right of privacy means the "right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." It specifically overruled Bowers v. Hardwick.
what two cases helped accomplish the second step in the strategy of the NAACP to get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks?
The second step was taken in two cases decided in 1950. 1)Heman Sweatt, an African American, was treated by the University of Texas Law School much as Ada Sipuel had been treated in Oklahoma: "admitted" to the all-white school but relegated to a separate building. 2)Another African American, George McLaurin, was allowed to study for his Ph.D. in a "colored section" of the all-white University of Oklahoma.
how was the third step in the strategy of the NAACP To get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks accomplished?
The NAACP took linda brown's case to the federal district court in Kansas after the judge decided that the black school that Linda could attend was substantially equal in quality to the white school that she could not attend. Therefore denying her access to the white school was constitutional. To change that the lawyers would have to persuade the Supreme Court to overrule the district judge on the grounds that racially separate schools were unconstitutional even if they were equal. In other words, the separate-but-equal doctrine would have to be over-turned by the Court. It was a risky and controversial step to take. Many states, Kansas among them, were trying to make their all-black schools equal to those of whites by launching expensive building programs. If the NAACP succeeded in getting separate schools declared unconstitutional, the Court might well put a stop to the building of these new schools. Blacks could win a moral and legal victory but suffer a practical defeat—the loss of these new facilities. Despite these risks, the NAACP decided to go ahead with the appeal.
main organization that waged the battle for the court to undo its decisions discriminating against blacks
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
benefit oif lawrence v texas
The benefit was to strike down a law that was rarely enforced and if introduced today probably could not
the not beneficial outcome of laewrence v texas
The cost was to create the possibility that the Court, and not Congress or state legislatures, might decide whether same-sex marriages were legal.
any quota system created by state or local governments is subject to ?
The courts will subject any quota system created by state or local governments to "strict scrutiny" and will look for a "compelling" justification for it.
why did the Supreme Court declare a West Virginia law requiring juries to be composed only of white males, unconstitutional but decided that it was unconstitutional for Congress to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations such as hotels.
The difference between the two cases seemed, in the eyes of the Court, to be that: serving on a jury was an essential right of citizenship that the state could not deny to any person on racial grounds without violating the Fourteenth Amendment, but registering at a hotel was a convenience controlled by a private person (the hotel owner), who could treat blacks and whites differently if he or she wished.
separate-but-equal doctrine
The doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities.
4. What has accounted for the wide support for Civil Rights since the 1960's?
The growing political strength of southern blacks. Also, attitudes among white political elites and members of congress had also changed.
what part of the 14th amendment was used to interpret equal rights for women?
The key passage was the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits any state from denying to "any person" the "equal protection of the laws."
civil rights
The rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional differences.
The chief effect of the hyde amendment
to deny the use of Medicaid funds to pay for abortions for low-income women.
how did the 3rd step in the strategy of the NAACP To get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks begin
The third step, the climax of the entire drama, began in Topeka, Kansas, where Linda Brown wanted to enroll in her neighborhood school but could not bc she was black and the school was by law reserved exclusively for whites. (brown v board of edu.)
Pennsylvania restrictions imposed on women seeking abortions that were upheld after roe v wade
These included a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period between the request for an abortion and the performance of it, the requirement that teenagers obtain the consent of one parent (or, in special circumstances, of a judge), and a requirement that women contemplating an abortion be given pamphlets about alternatives to it.
Why did African Americans find it so hard to advance the cause for civil rights until the middle of the 20th century. Give several reasons.
They were denied the right to vote (poll taxes, literary tests, grandfather clause) up until WWII most african americans lived in the south, so most northerners had no opinion of black rights enough to change their status Jim crow laws and segregation. blacks found it hard to get jobs and economic advancement
when was it made clear that no state may deny the right to vote on the basis of sex.
Though this was slowly granted by several states, especially in the West, it was not until 1920 that the Nineteenth Amendment
why did the judge throw out the case of Paula Jones accusing pres. Clinton of sexual harassment?
because she had not submitted enough evidence such that, if the jury believed her story, she would have made a legally adequate argument that she had been sexually harassed.
what is needed to meet the intermediate scrutiny standard
To meet this standard, the law or policy must be "content neutral," must further an important government interest in a way that is "substantially related" to that interest, and must use means that are a close fit to the government's goal and substantially broader than is necessary to accomplish that goal.
All of the following pieces of legislation deal with gender bias EXCEPT the
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Why was the freedom of choice plan in 1968 rejected?
Under the freedom of choice plan, every pupil would be allowed without legal restriction to attend the school of his or her choice. but when it was "enacted", all the white children chose to remain in the all white school, an 85 percent of the black children remained in the all black school. The court rejected this plan is unconstitutional because it did not produce the "ultimate end" which was a "unitary, non racial system of education."
which case said that State may not finance an all-male military school.
United States v. Virginia(1996):
reverse discrimination
Using race or sex to give preferential treatment to some people.
key provision of the civil rights act of 1960, and it's explanation. (prolly not impt)
Voting : -Authorized the attorney general to appoint federal referees to gather evidence and make findings about allegations that African Americans were being deprived of their right to vote. -Made it a federal crime to use interstate commerce to threaten or carry out a bombing.
key provision of the civil rights act of 1957, and it's explanation. (prolly not impt)
Voting: -Made it a federal crime to try to prevent a person from voting in a federal election. -Created the Civil Rights Commission.
when will ppl support/oppose affirmative action
if affirmative action is defined as "helping," people will support it, but if it is defined as "using quotas," they will oppose it.
What was the difference between the issues of the civil rights movement and the women's movement?
Whereas African Americans were arguing against a legal tradition that explicitly aimed to keep them in a subservient status, women had to argue against a tradition that claimed to be protecting them.
Did the Swann decision end or further segregation?
Why could both be answered yes? You can say it ended it because it helped enforced integration. it forced them. you can say it furthered segregation because white people started moving away and segregating themselves more to avoid the desegregation being forced upon them.
what was it a slow and difficult strategy for the NAACP to To get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
bc tht would require the NAACP to bring before the court, cases involving the strongest possible claims that a black had been unfairly treated—and under circumstances sufficiently different from those of earlier cases that the Court could find some grounds for changing its mind.
y did the sup court strike down the Colorado constitutional amendment on homosexuality
be-cause it violated the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution.
sup. court. argument for why states could not prev. the sale of contraceptives? y is the argument valid?
because by so doing it would invade a "zone of privacy." -Privacy is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution, but the Court argued that it could be inferred from "penumbras" (literally, shadows) cast off by various provisions of the Bill of Rights.
why wasn't much done about the vast amount of lynchings
because it was a local not a federal crime
why was President John F. Kennedy was reluctant to submit strong civil rights bills to Congress?
because many aspects of the governemnt was controlled by people hostile to civil rights bills, so sny bill that passed the House faced an almost certain filibuster in the Senate.
Racial (and ethnic) profiling. Constitutional? ever justified? Explain
Yes it can be justified because if people of a certain race are more likely to break the speed limit or smuggle drugs in their cars, then stopping them more frequently, even if it means stopping more innocent people, may make sense.
Strict scrutiny:
a Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal
what type of suit was the brown case
a class action suit-that is, it applied not only to Linda Brown but to all others similarly situated. This meant that black children everywhere now had the right to attend for-merly all-white schools.
first true instance of a chool working to desegregate itself
a plan in North Carolina under which pupils in Mecklenburg County were assigned to the nearest neighborhood school without regard to race. As a result about half the black children now attended formerly all-white schools, with the other half at-tending all-black schools.
The practice of preferential treatment for members of groups that have historically suffered from discrimination is called
affirmative action
"quid pro quo" rule.
an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is dependant upon the other; "a favour for a favour".
the Hyde Amendment,
barred the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except when the life of the mother is at stake.
how did the two cases decided in 1950 help accomplish the second step in the strategy of the NAACP to get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks?
bc the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the arrangements in those two cases were unconstitutional because, by imposing racially based barriers on the black students' access to professors, libraries, and other students, they created unequal educational opportunities.
why was the separate but equal doctrine able to be made constitutionally
bc the equal protection clause guaranteed political and legal but not social equality. "Separate-but-equal" facilities were constitutional because if "one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane."
How were African Americans able to broaden their base of support both among political elites and among the general public and thereby raise civil rights matters from a low to a high position on the political agenda.
black leaders publicized their grievances and organized a civil rights movement that (at least in its early stages) concentrated on dramatizing the denial to blacks of essential and widely accepted liberties By waging a patient, prolonged, but carefully planned legal struggle, black leaders shifted decision-making power on key civil rights issues from Congress, where they had been stymied for generations, to the federal courts.
What case overruled Plessy v. Ferguson?
brown v board of edu.
most common method used to desegregate schools
busing
how do the states reg. sexual matters?
by exercising their police powers.
What is compensatory action? How does it compare to preferential treatment?
compensatory action is "helping disadvantaged people catch up, usually by giving them extra education, training, or services." preferential treatment is "giving minorities preference in hiring, promotions, college admissions, and contracts."compensatory action is supported by a majority of the public while preferential treatment is opposed by a majority of the public.
Civil Liberties:
concern basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed -- either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or interpreted through the years by courts and lawmakers.
the first time in history that a filibuster aimed at blocking civil rights legislation had been broken was when?
during The passage of the 1964 act -- the high point of the legislative struggle.
The great change in the status of women, took place when?
during World War II when the demand for workers in our defense plants led to the employment of millions of women, such as "Rosie the Riveter," in jobs they had rarely held before.
Since the 1950s, the greatest expansion of civil rights has stemmed from reinterpretation and enforcement of the
equal protection clause
what was used to convince people that resistance to integration was futile?
federal troops In the late 1950s and early 1960s the National Guard and regular army paratroopers were used to escort black students into formerly all-white schools and universities. also federal laws began providing financial aid to integrate schools and withholding it from segregated schools
when can quotas or preference systems be used by state or local governments
if it is first showed that such rules are needed to correct an actual past or present pattern of discrimination.
example of the reasonableness standard
if the government says you cant buy a drink until you are 21, this meets the test bc: the gov. wants to prev. children from drinking, and age 21 is a reasonable means to define when a person is and adult. -and the state can ban advertising on trucks unless the ad is about the truck owner's business.
The Thirteenth Amendment
illegalized slavery and indentured servitude
the Defense of Marriage Act. But
in 1996 Congress enacted a bill, signed by President Clinton, said that no state would have to give legal status to a same-sex marriage per-formed in another state, and it would define marriage as a lawful union of husband and wife. ruled unconst. by sup court
how was the first step in the strategy of the NAACP To get the Court to change its mind on it's narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and reverse its discriminatory rulings on blacks accomplished?
in a series of court cases stretching from 1938 to 1948. In 1938 the Court held that Lloyd Gaines had to be admitted to an all-white law school in Missouri because no black law school of equal quality existed in that state. In 1948 the Court ordered the all-white University of Oklahoma Law School to admit Ada Lois Sipuel, a black, even though the state planned to build a black law school later.
what was brown v. edu. reasoning for overruling plessy v Ferguson ruling
in an opinion written and delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren, found that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place" because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." 12 Plessy v. Ferguson was over-ruled, and "separate but equal" was dead.
Quotas or preference systems that are created by federal law will be given greater deference why?
in part because Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment gives to Congress powers not given to the states to correct the effects of racial discrimination.
when did the court apply the separate but equal doctrine to schools
in the case Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Eduation
The Equal Rights Amendment failed
in the state legislatures
what is needed In proving that there has been discrimination
it is not enough to show that African Americans (or other minorities) are statistically underrepresented among employees, contractors, or union members; you must identify the actual practices that have had this discriminatory impact.
the Four developments that made it possible to break the deadlock in congress on passing civil rights bills led to the creation of what exactly
led to the enactment of five civil rights laws between 1957 and 1968. Three (1957, 1960, and 1965) were chiefly directed at protecting the right to vote; one (1968) was aimed at preventing discrimination in housing; and one (1964), the most far-reaching of all, dealt with voting, employment, schooling, and public accommodations.
what does "equal protection of the laws." mean when read broadly.
might mean that the Constitution should be regarded as color-blind: no state law could have the effect of treating whites and blacks differently. Thus a law segregating blacks and whites into separate schools or neighborhoods would be unconstitutional.
how did the supreme court used to interpret the 14th amendment? broadly or narrowly?
narrowly
quid pro quo harassment
occurs in the workplace when a manager or other authority figure offers or merely hints that he or she will give the employee something (a raise or a promotion) in return for that employee's satisfaction of a sexual demand.
Supporters of equality of opportunity tend to have
orthodox beliefs; they favor letting private groups behave the way that they want (and so may defend the right of a men's club to exclude women).
affirmative action -
preferential hiring practices. Programs designed to increase minority participation in some institution (businesses, schools, labor unions, or government agencies) by taking positive steps to appoint more minority-group members.
The Supreme Court has used the Fourteenth Amendment to do all of the following EXCEPT
protect hate speech on college campuses
The Supreme Court applies the standard of strict scrutiny to discrimination cases involving
race
The Supreme Court has historically been most restrictive toward legislation that discriminates according to
race
Even when you can justify special preferences in hiring workers, the Supreme Court is not likely to allow ? y?
racial preferences to govern who gets laid off. A worker laid off to make room for a minority worker loses more than does a worker not hired in preference to a minority applicant.
"Southern Manifesto"
signed by over one hundred southern members of Congress In 1956. condemned the Brown decision as an "abuse of judicial power" and pledged to "use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of the decision."
civil rights is abt cases in which
some group, usually defined along racial or ethnic lines, is denied access to facilities, opportunities, or services that are available to other groups
Strict liability means
that the employer can be found at fault even if he or she did not know that a subordinate was requesting sex in exchange for hiring or promotion.
which Civil Rights Act prohibits sex discrimination in the hiring, firing, and compensation of employees.
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
what did the supreme court say about whether busing and other remedies should cut across city and county lines.
the Court ruled that court-ordered inter-city busing could be authorized only if it could be demonstrated that the suburban areas as well as the central city had in fact practiced school segregation. if it could not be proven that the suburban areas as well as the central city had practiced school segregation, intercity busing would not be required.
Gay marriage was permitted in all fifty states in 2015 as a result of
the Court's decision in Obergfell
During Reconstruction, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in order to overturn
the Dred Scott decision
The movement for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment was aided most prominently by
the National Organization for Women
The origin of the movement to give more rights to women was probably
the Seneca Falls Convention held in 1848. Its leaders began to demand the right to vote for women.
under the the Defense of Marriage Act. state and federal laws on this matter could be overturned if
the Supreme Court decided in favor of same-sex marriage, using language that appears in the Lawrence case. That could be prevented by an amendment to the Constitution, but Congress is not willing to propose one and, if proposed, it is not clear the states would ratify it. Note: The Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court several years ago. Same sex marriage is now legal in all fifty states as a result of the Obergefell decision.
In Lawrence v. Texas, the Court ruled?
the court overturned a Texas law that banned sexual contact between persons of the same sex. -
court ruling in Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education
the court rules that a decision in a Georgia community to close the black high school while keeping open the white high school was not a violation of the 14th Amendment because blacks could always go to private schools. Here the Court seemed to be saying that not only could schools be separate, they could even be unequal.
the NAACP's most influential role was played in
the courtroom
after the war, the feminist movement took flight with
the publication in 1963 of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan.
Regulating sexual matters has traditionally been left up to which do so
the states,
Most critics of affirmative action oppose the practice because
they consider it to be an inherently discriminatory practice
main purpose for civil disobedience during the civil rights era?
to get civil rights on the political agenda by convincing people that something had to be done. This achieved this by dramatizing the problem in ways that tugged at the conscience of whites who were not racist but were indifferent to black problems. Brutal lynchings of blacks had shocked these whites, but lynchings were becoming less frequent in the 1950s, and obviously black leaders had no desire to provoke more lynchings just to get sympathy for their cause.
The 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decided that
universities may consider race as one factor in the admissions process
In Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court decided,
upheld, in a 5-4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults, in this case with respect to homosexual sodomy, that there was no reason in the Constitution to prevent a state from having such a law. There was a right to privacy, but it was designed simply to protect "family, marriage, or procreation."
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1965 (2)(prolly not impt)
voter registration literary tests
key provisions of the civil rights act of 1964 (5)
voting public accommodations schools employment Federal funds
"white flight"
when whites move out of a city at a faster rate than they otherwise would (happened when mandatory busing or other integration measures where made mandatory)
is racial profiling ever justified?
yes bc if people of a certain race are more likely to break the speed limit or smuggle drugs in their cars, then stopping them more frequently, even if it means stopping more innocent people, may make sense.
Strict scrutiny means what two things:
• Any racial preference must serve a "compelling government interest." • The preference must be "narrowly tailored" to serve that interest.
court case that said that Said that separate public schools are inherently unequal, thus starting racial desegregation
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954):
court case that Banned a freedom-of-choice plan for integrating schools, suggesting that blacks and whites must actually attend racially mixed schools.
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968):
court case that said that Upheld separate-but-equal facilities for white and black people on railroad cars.
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):
court casethat Approved busing and redrawing district lines as ways of integrating public schools.
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971):