Ch 5

Civil Rights

Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights

• Civil liberties– Fundamental freedoms protecting

citizens from government

– Freedoms in Bill of Rights

• Civil rights– Rights citizens have to equal treatment

– Equality of government services– Equality in application of civil liberties

De jure vs. De facto segregation

• De jure segregation– Segregation mandated by law

• De facto segregation– Segregation that exists as a fact of life– Real-life choices of all people

Before Civil War

• Slavery

• Restrictions on movement• Restrictions on education• No rights to own property• No rights to serve on juries• Miscegenation bans

Scott v. Sanford (1857)• AKA Dred Scott decision

• Slavery constitutional

• African Americans have no rights, even if they’re free

• Congress can’t ban slavery in new states

Reconstruction amendments

• 13 – abolished slavery

• 14 – made slaves citizens; assured equal protection under the law

• 15 – allowed right to vote for freed slaves (among others)

What does Equal Protection entail?

• Battle from the beginning:– Equal protection of life, liberty &

property

– Equal treatment by gov / attempts by gov to promote equality

– Early cases—more conservative interpretation won

1876 election

• Hayes (R) defeated Tilden (D)– Disputed election decided by House

– Made a deal w/southern reps – elect Hayes, he ends Reconstruction

• Civil rights laws in south rescinded

• Jim Crow laws instituted

Jim Crow laws

• De jure segregation on mass scale

• Mostly in South (but not only)

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)– Segregation is ok if accommodations

are “separate but equal”

Brown v. Topeka BOE (1954)

• Overturned Plessy

• Ruled separate accommodations inherently unequal

• Ordered desegregation of public schools

After Brown

• Massive Resistance– Southern efforts to fight Brown– Some states closed public schools– Set up vouchers for private schools

“Brown II”(1955)

• Closing public schools / issuing private school vouchers unconstitutional if solely racial in purpose

• Desegregate with “all deliberate speed"

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Banned discrimination in public places

• Prohibited employment discrimination

• Withheld federal $ from discriminating school systems

• Gave Justice Dept power to sue institutions to enforce civil rights laws

• (Discrimination didn’t just include race)

Voting rights

• Originally, states controlled ALL voter requirements

• 15th am was 1st restriction to state control over voting

Efforts to stop minority voting

• Literacy test– Grandfather clause exempted many

white voters from test requirement

• White primary– Smith v. Allwright (1944)

• Poll taxes

• Racial gerrymandering

Voting Rights Act 1965

• Banned literacy tests

• Banned grandfather clause

• Required southern states to get electoral map preapproved

Women’s rights

• Women’s rights movement arose from 2nd Great Awakening (1840s)– Along with abolition and temperance

• 19th amendment (1920)

Equal Rights Amendment

• Proposed by Congress in 1972

• 7-yr requirement for ratification

• ¾ of states didn’t ratify, expired

• “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex”

Gender issues

• Wage discrimination

• Comparable worth

• Glass ceiling

• Educational opportunities

• Sexual harassment

• Women in military

Other civil rights issues

• Age discrimination laws– Age Disc in Employment Act (1967)

• Disability laws– Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• Gay & lesbian rights– Don’t ask, don’t tell– Right to privacy cases

Affirmative Action

• Beneficial treatment for groups subjected to past discrimination

• Preferences in gov contracts for business, education admission, etc.

U of CA Regents v. Bakke (1978)

• Banned “reverse discrimination” in college admissions

• Can’t make race the main determining factor in admissions

• Can use race as one of many elements in admissions process

What discriminations are ok?

• Court created 2 standards to decide:

– Reasonableness / Rational basis test• For non-race discriminations• Assume OK unless proven otherwise• Is there a rational basis for difference?

What discriminations are ok?

• Court created 2 standards to decide:

– Strict scrutiny• For racial discriminations• Assume wrong unless proven otherwise