American Government ch. 5
Civil Law
- The law regulating conduct b/w private persons over noncriminal matters including contracts, domestic relations and business interactions.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The most far reaching bill on civil rights in modern times, banned discrimination on the basis of color, religion, gender, or national origin. - Barred discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin - Authorized the Attorney General to initiate lawsuits to force desegregation of public schools - Made illegal the use of literacy tests to impede black voting - Barred discrimination in any program receiving federal assistance - Prohibited discrimination in employment - Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Feminism
- The movement that supports political, economic, and social equality for women.
26th amendment
- The right of citizens of the US, who are 18 yrs or older, to vote shall not be denied by the US or any state on account of age.
Rational Basis Review
- The standard used by courts to determine the constitutionality of a law or govt action if neither strict scrutiny nor intermediate scrutiny applies.
Intermediate scrutiny
- The standard used by courts to determine whether a law of govt action improperly discriminates against women. (exacting scrutiny)
Voting barriers (prob on essay test)
- White primary - Grandfather Clause - Poll taxes - Literacy tests
The Feminine Mystique in 1963
- Written by Betty Friedan in 1963 which focused national attention on the unequal status of women in American Life.
Betty Friedan
- Wrote "The Feminine Mystique" in 1963 which focused national attention on the unequal status of women in American life. - Formed the Nation Organization for Women in 1966.
Fisher v. University of Texas
- a case which ruled that strict scrutiny should be applied to determine the constitutionality of a race-sensitive admissions policy.
Due process law was crucial to:
- extending the civil liberties contained in the Bill of Rights to cover the actions of the individual states.
The Emancipation Proclamation
- freeing all slaves in rebel states as of January 1, 1863 - saw no results during the war - Issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
15th amendment
- guaranteed "the right of citizens" to vote regardless of their "race, color or previous condition of servitude"
separate but equal doctrine
- The doctrine holding that separate-but-equal facilities do not violate the 14th amendment.
What are the largest minority groups?
Hispanic Americans or Latinos - Asian Americans are the 3rd largest
Common law
Judge-made law that originated in England from decisions shaped accordingly to prevailing customs. Decisions were applied to similar situations and thus gradually became common to the nation.
19th amendment
"The right of citizens to of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
Jim Crow laws
- "Statutes and ordinances", which was established in 1874 and 1975, stated that African Americans and whites were to be separated, which many states voted for. It represented "Separate but equal treatment", but it overall limited the rights of African Americans and they were not allowed to interact with white individuals. - These laws required separate drinking fountains; separate seats in the alter, restaurants, hotels; separate public toilets.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- 1/8th African American, boarded a train for white people. The conductor made him leave the car and use the train for nonwhites. The Supreme Court rejected Plessy's contention in Plessy v. Ferguson. Supreme Court held that separate facilities for blacks and whites did not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (separate but equal doctrine) Result - many states passed laws permitting racial segregation in almost all aspects of society These all established a way of life in which strong social codes took root - Jim Crow customs
Disabled Americans
- 1990 - Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act - The law extends the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to all those with physical and mental disabilities, including persons with AIDS.
Suspect classification
- A classification, such as race, religion, or national origin, that triggers strict scrutiny by the courts when a law or govt. action potentially discriminates against members of the class.
Asian Americans and college admissions
- A current issue faced by Asian Americans is the question of admissions to highly selective colleges and Universities. - Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade calculated that Asian Americans must outperform whites by 140 points on SAT (out of 1600) in order to obtain equal consideration.
Strict Scrutiny
- A judicial standard for accessing the constitutionality of a law or govt action when the law or action threatens to interfere with a fundamental right or potentially discriminates against members of a suspect classification. - When fundamental rights are at stake
Felony
- A serious crime punishable in most jurisdictions by a prison sentence longer than 1 yr.
White Primary
- A state primary election that restricted voting to whites only. - Upheld by Supreme Court until 1944 when the court ruled it a violation of the 15th amendment.
Literacy Tests
- A test administered as a precondition for voting, often used to prevent african americans from exercising their right to vote.
Civil Rights Act of 1872
- Anti- Ku Klux Klan Act. This act made it a federal crime for anyone to use law or custom to deprive an individual of rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the constitution or by any federal law.
Gender Discrimination
- Any practice, policy, or procedure that denies equality or treatment to an individual or to a group b/c of gender. - Violated the 14th amendment's equal protection clause.
Civil Rights of Juveniles
- As a law, minors cannot be held responsible for contracts that they form with someone else.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
- Bakke was a white student who was turned down for med school even though his academic record wad better than most accepted and the school admitted to using race as admittance decision. - Affirmative action programs were upheld constitutional.
Defense of Marriage Act of 1966
- Bans federal recognition of lesbian and gay couples and allows state govts. to ignore same-sex marriages performed in other state.
Modern Civil Rights Legislation (4)
- Civil Rights Act of 1964 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Urban Riots - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 and other housing Reform Legislation.
Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas
- Court upheld that a Georgia law made homosexual conduct b/w 2 adults a crime. - Court reversed its earlier position with its decision about Lawrence v. Texas. In this case, the court held that laws against sodomy violate the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- Created by Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer Title VII (A federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.) - It was not until 1972 that Congress gave the EEOC the right to sue employers, unions, and employment agencies.
Civil Rights Act of 1875
- Declared that everyone is entitled to full and equal employment of public accomodations, theaters, and other public amusement, and it imposed penalties on violators.
Second Civil Rights Act (1875)
- Declared that everyone is entitled to full and equal enjoyment at public accomodations, theaers, and other places of public amusement, and it imposed penalties on violators. - THIS WAS INVALIDATED.
The importance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Employment - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - The Women's Rights Movement - The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposed in 1972. - Other Groups and Civil Rights - Native Americans - Hispanic Americans - Gays and Lesbians - Disabled Americans
Equal Pay Act
- Enacted in 1963, basically requires employers to provide equal pay for substantially equal work.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 1954
- Established that the segregation of races in public schools violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. - Brown did not believe his 8 yr old daughter should have to go to an all nonwhite school. - Was only one of many rulings that employed strict scrutiny on behalf of civil rights.
Differing Perspectives
- Even today race consciousness continues to divide African Americans and white Americans. As a result, African Americans often view the nation and many specific issues differently than their white counterparts do such as when in a survey asked if they have achieved equality, blacks usually answer yes whereas whites usually say no.
The Equal Rights Amendment
- First introduced in Congress in 1923 by leaders of the national Women's Party which states that "Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." - For yrs, the amendment was not even given a hearing in Congress, but finally was approved by both chambers and sent to state legislatures for ratification in 1972.
Seneca Falls Convention (1848)
- First women's rights convention - Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized it. - Delegates supported a call for all men and women to be able to enjoy the rights of citizenship - 1850s - the calm before storm of the Civil War - Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857) - Reformers called for widespread change
Nonviolent Demonstrations
- For the next decade, African americans and sympathetic whites engaged in sit-ins, freedom rides, and freedom marches.
National Women Suffrage Association
- Formed after the Civil War in 1869 by Susan B. Anthony. - In their view, women's suffrage (right to vote) was a means to achieve major improvements in the economic and social situation of women in the US. (The vote was to be used to seek broader goals).
Gays and Lesbians
- Homosexuals have had a more difficult time than other minority groups in expanding legal rights and protections - The Clinton administration's compromise position of "Don't ask, don't tell" policy towards gays in the military
The Chinese Exclusion Act
- Immigrants from China began arriving in California at the time of the 1849 Gold Rush. - In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act banned all further immigration from China. The act wasn't repealed until 1943.
The Japanese in America
- Immigration from Japan was also banned in 1924. - In 1942 when west coast Japanese were forced into internment camps (62% were US citizens) and weren't allowed to leave until 1945.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
- Implemented the extension of citizenship to anyone born in the US and gave African Americans full equality before the law.
Implementing Affirmative Action
- In 1965, Pres. Lyndon Johnson issued it. - Affirmative Action programs have been controversial b/c they allegedly result in discrimination against other "majority" groups.
The march on Washington
- In Aug. 1963, african american leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin organized the massive March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said the speech I have a dream.
Korematsu v. US
- Introduced the standard of strict scrutiny in 1944 - The court ruled that the federal govt had the right to force West Coast Japanese Americans into detention camps purely on basis of race.
Asian Americans
- Justice John Marshall Harlan claimed it was permissible to deny them citizenship. - Chinese American immigrants were denied citizenship throughout the 19th century. - Only in 1898 did the Supreme Court rule that Chinese Americans born in the US must be recognized as citizens, in accordance with the 14th amendment.
King's Philosophy of Nonviolence
- King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. - He advocated nonviolent civil disobedience as a means to achieve racial justice.
The Civil Rights Movement (4 Approaches to nonviolence)
- King's philosophy of nonviolence - Nonviolent Demonstrations - The March on Washington - Another Approach-Black Power
Civil Liberties
- Limitations on govt. - What the govt. cannot do
Hispanic Americans
- Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) and the Puerto Rico Legal Defense Fund were founded to spearhead litigation efforts - They have expanded voting rights and challenged redistricting plans in various states - Key Hispanic Americans have also won elective office.
What happend after the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) landmark case?
- NAACP lead attorney Thurgood Marshall asserted that the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment - The NAACP position was supported by amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs submitted by the U.S. government, labor unions, religious organizations and civil rights groups - On May 17, 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous decision overruling the Plessy v. Ferguson decision - Declared separate but equal unconstitutional - He denounced segregation in schools on the grounds that it generated a feeling of inferiority as to a person's status in the community This case opened the door for the widespread momentum of the Civil Rights Movement
National Organization for Women (NOW)
- National Organization for Women, which promotes equal rights for women and was founded in 1966. It began with a few feminists who wanted equality between men and women's rights. - Many observers consider the founding of NOW to be the beginning of the modern women's movement--the feminist movement.
Another approach-Black Power
- Not allafrican americans agreed with King's philosophy of nonviolence. - Black power leaders such as Malcolm X insisted tat african americans should fight back instead of turnig the other cheek.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
- Passed by Congress who sought to guarantee equality of treatment in education. - "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." - The most impact the title made was on high school and college athletics.
Affirmative Action
- Policies attempt to "level the playing field" by giving special preferences in educational admissions and employment decisions to groups that have been discriminated against in the past.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 and other housing Reform Legislation.
- President Lyndon signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which banned discrimination in most housing and provided penalties for those attempting to interfere with individual civil rights (giving protection to civil rights workers, among others). - Martin Luther King Jr. dies 9 days before.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Prohibits gender discrimination in employment and has been used to strike down employment policies that discriminate against employees on the basis of gender. - In 1978, Congress amended Title VII to expand the definition of gender discrimination to include discrimination based on pregnancy.
De jure Segregation
- Racial segregation that occurs b/c of laws or administrative decisions by public agencies. - Result of discriminatory laws or govt laws.
de Facto Segregation
- Racial segregation that occurs b/c of past social and economic conditions and residential racial patterns. - Segregation not due to explicit law but from other causes. - ex. landlords would only rent to african americans in specific areas (all black neighborhoods).
Civil Rights
- Refers to rights of all American to equal protection under the law, as provided for by 14th amendment. - What the govt. has to do.
Criminal law
- Relates to crimes against society that're defined by legislatures and prosecuted by a public official, such as a district attorney.
Poll taxes
- Required payment of fee to vote (poor african americans and poor whites couldn't vote). - The 24th amendment outlawed poll tax
Grandfather Clause
- Restricted voting to those who could prove their grandfathers had voted before 1867.
Urban Riots
- Riots swept through African American inner-city neighborhoods as the civil rights movement was experiencing its greatest victories.
American Women Suffrage Association
- Rival Association; Key founder: Lucy Stone - Believed that the vote was the only major issue. - The 2 associations joined forces, becoming National American Women Suffrage Association and their only goal was the enfranchisement of women (made little progress).
The Enforcement Act of 1870
- Set out specific criminal penalties for interfering with the right to vote as protected by 15th amendment and by Civil Rights Act of 1866.
13th amendment
- States that slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist w/in the U.S. The 14th amendment tells us that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S, are citizens of the U.S. Nor should it deprive anyone of life, liberty, or due process. - abolished slavery and southern states were required to ratify it as a condition of readmission to the union - Many southern states quickly passed Black Codes as a result of ratifying this amendment - The 1866 Civil Rights Act invalidated some but not all of these codes - it did allow for blacks to file discrimination suits in federal court
United States v. Windsor
- Supreme Court found that the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed by the states was unconstitutional.
Adarand Constructors, inc v. Pena
- Supreme Court held that any federal, state, or local affirmative action program that uses race or ethnic classifications as the basis for making decisions is subject to strict scrutiny by the courts.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- The "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" formed in 1909, was an important civil rights organization. The members opposed the gradualism that Booker T. Washington preached about. They first were trying to make whites aware of the necessity for equality between races. They attacked segregation and inequality, which won the Supreme Court decision (1915). It was against the "grandfather clause" which prevented colored individuals from voting which was used by southern states.
What series of Civil Rights Acts did Congress pass to enforce the 13, 14, 15 amendments
- The Civil Rights Act of 1866 - the Enforcement Act of 1870 - Civil Rights Act of 1872 - Civil Rights Act of 1875
Majority
- The age at which a person is entitled by the law to the right to manage her or his own affairs (varies from 18-21 yrs old)
14th amendment
- guaranteed citizenship to freed slaves. - barred states from restricting the privileges and immunities of citizenship - no state can deprive any person life, liberty or property without due process of the law - added the word "male" to the constitution for the first time. - Adopted in 1869, after Civil War
To be acceptable under the strict scrutiny standard, a law must pass 3 tests:
1) It must be justified by a compelling govt. interest. National security is an ex. of such an interest. 2) It must be narrowly tailored to meet that interest. 3) It must be the least restrictive means of accomplishing the goal in question. Restrictions on rights such as freedom of speech must not exceed what is absolutely necessary.
What were the major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (6).
1) Outlawed arbitrary discrimination in voter registration 2) Barred discrimination in public accomodations 3) Authorized federal govt. to sue to desegregate public schools and facilities 4) Expanded the power of the Civil Rights Commission, which has been created in 1957 and extended for its life. 5) Provided for the withholding of federal funds from programs administered in a discriminatory manner. 6) It established the right to equality of opportunity in employment.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965: 2 major provisions
1) Outlawed discriminatory voter-registration tests (ended literacy tests). 2) Authorized federal registration of voters and federally administered voting procedures in any political subdivision or state that discriminated electorally against a particular group.
Native Americans
Native Americans: - 1924 - Native Americans were made US citizens - Native Americans have won some important legal battles concerning religious freedom and land rights - 1992 - Native American Ben Nighthorse Campbell was elected as a US Senator from Colorado.
What happened in 1955? After the brown case?
SCHOOL DESEGREGATION - Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated school systems must be dismantled "with all deliberate speed" - Enforcement was in the hands of non-elected federal district judges - Some states resisted enforcement - President Eisenhower responded by sending federal troops to protect the rights of black students A NEW MOVE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN RIGHTS - Rosa Parks challenged the segregated bus system in Montgomery, Alabama by refusing to move to the rear of the bus (Dec. 1955) - In response to Mrs. Parks' arrest, Civil Rights activist Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. called for a non-violent boycott of Montgomery's buses - Federal court ruled that the segregated bus system violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
Reverse Discrimination
The situation in which an affirmative action program discriminates against those who don't have majority status.
