unit 2 review powerpoint civil rights& civil liberties

Unit 2 Review PowerPoint

Civil Rights& Civil Liberties

The Unit in a Nutshell• Important Amendments: 1, 4, 5, 14• Selective Incorporation: uses the 14th amendment

(due process/equal protection) to make the bill of rights apply to states.

• Civil Rights• Women’s Rights• Affirmative Action • Gay Rights• COURT CASES!

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

• Civil Liberties = protection of the Constitution, provides against the abuse of government power • Civil Rights = protection of certain

groups against discrimination

Freedoms of the First Amendment

Applying the Bill of Rights to the States

Initially, liberties of the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government and not the states

Barron v. Baltimore, 1833Barron was a co-owner of a wharf in Baltimore Harbor; as

the city grew and developed, large amounts of sand accumulated, depriving him of the deep water necessary for business. He sued the city to recover a portion of his financial losses.

The Supreme Court asked if the 5th Amendment denies the states as well as the national government the right to take private property for public use without just compensation.

Determined the Bill of Rights does not limit states, just the national government


R.I.I.(Ridiculously Important Information)

• SELECTIVE INCORPORATION: process of applying some federal rights to the states

• Uses the 14th Amendment Due process clauseEqual protection clause

• Almost entire Bill of Rights now applied to the states • Generally, entire Bill of Rights applied to states except

a. Right to bear arms

b. Right to not quarter soldiersc. Right to be indicted by a grand juryd. Right to a jury in civil casese. Ban on excessive bail and fines


Applying the Bill of Rights to the States

Changed with the 14th Amendment Due process clauseEqual protection clause

Supreme Court used these clauses to apply certain rights to state governments 1897: said no state could take private property without just

compensation1925 (Gitlow v. New York): declared federal guarantees of

free speech and free press also applied to the states 1937 (Palko v. Connecticut): certain rights must apply to

the states because they are essential to “ordered liberty” and they are “principles of justice”


Selective Incorporation Cases• Gitlow v. New York- 1st am. freedom of speech• DeJonge v. Oregon- 1st am. freedom of assembly• Romer v. Evans- 1st amendment right to petition• Mapp v. Ohio- 4th amendment search and seizure• Palko v. Connecticut- 5th amendment fair trial• Gideon v. Wainwright- 6th am. right to counselIn some cases the outcome didn’t matter, what was

significant was the Supreme Court ruling that stated states must uphold these civil liberties

Interpreting the First Amendment

• Free speech and free press often at odds with national security

• Constant debate as to just how free the press and speech should be

• Supreme Court has generally moved towards more free expression with deference to Congress in times of Crisis


Speech and National Security• Congress defines limits of expression: 1917-1918– Treason, insurrection, forcible resistance to federal laws,

encouraging disloyalty in the armed services are not protected by First Amendment

– Upheld in Schenck (1919) via “clear and present danger test”

• Change in national-state relationship: Gitlow (1925)– Supreme Court initially denied that due process clause made the

Bill of Rights applicable to states – Change occurred in Gitlow when due process clause was applied

to protect “fundamental personal rights” from infringement of states


Defamation: intentional, false statements • Libel: written statement defaming another person• Slander: defamatory oral statement• Variable jury awards— $ hard to collect • Public figures must also show the words were written

with “actual malice”◦ New York Times v. Sullivan◦New York Times article to support MLK inaccurately portrayed

law enforcement; Sullivan was head. ◦Results: First Amendment protects publication of all

statements (even false) except when statements are made with “actual malice”

What is Speech: Defamation

First Amendment—Speech

Obscenity :First Amendment protects anything with political, artistic, or literary merit

1. No enduring and comprehensive definition, but generally nudity and sex are not, by definition, obscene; government only punishes “hard-core pornography” (how to judge?!)

2. Balancing competing claims remains a problem: freedom v. democracy

3. Localities decide whether to tolerate pornography but must comply with strict constitutional tests if they decide to regulate it

4. Protection is extended to almost all forms of communication

What is Speech: Obscenity


5. Indianapolis statute; Court ruled the legislature cannot show preference for one form of expression over another (women in positions of equality vs. women in positions of subordination)

Miller v. California (1972)6. Zoning ordinances for adult theaters and bookstores have been

upheld; regulates use of property rather than expression7. Internet regulation rules unconstitutional by the Supreme Court

Decency v. liberty

What is Speech: Obscenity Cont.


Symbolic Speech :Actions that convey a political message protected

1. Cannot claim protection for an otherwise illegal act on the grounds that it conveys a political message (ex.- burning a draft card)

2. But statutes cannot make certain types of symbolic speech illegal (ex. – burning a flag is protected)

◦ Tinker v. Des Moines◦ Students allowed to wear black arm bands to protest war

◦ Texas v. Johnson • Burning U.S. flag protected by First Amendment

What is Speech: Symbolic Speech


• Corporations and organizations usually have the same rights as individuals 1. Corporations and interest groups have First Amendment rights

2. Businesses that cater to “vice” also have First Amendment rights

• Restrictions can be placed on commercial speech– Govt can place restrictions on advertisements for

cigarettes, liquor, gambling, etc.

Who is a Person?


Church and State: The Free-Exercise Clause

• Definition: Citizens may practice religion as they see fit; no law may impose particular burdens on religious institutions Relatively clear meaning: no state interference, similar to speech– Ensures that no law may impose particular burdens on religious institutions

Example: Hialeach, FL cannot ban animal sacrifices by Santerians because killing animals is not generally illegal

First Amendment—Religion

• Definition: Government cannot establish a national religion; “wall of separation” between church and state should exist (Jefferson’s view)

• Ambiguous phrasing of First Amendment requires Court interpretation

• Supreme Court interpretation: no governmental involvement, even if the involvement would not be preferential

The Establishment Clause


Government involvement in religious activities is constitutional if it meets the following tests:

The Endorsement Test: 1) Does this activity/idea seem to endorse a

particular religion? If so, not constitutional. *This idea was too simplistic. (Replaced with Lemon)

***Lemon v. Kurtzman (creation of Lemon test) ***

The Lemon Test 1) Secular purpose (non-religious)2) Primary effect neither advances nor inhibits religion3) No excessive government entanglement with religion

The Establishment Clause


Crime and Due Process

• There is always a question as to how we should deal with “improper evidence” in the courtroom; different nations approach the question in different ways 1. Most nations let all evidence into trial, later punishing any police

misconduct

2. United States excludes improperly obtained evidence from trial


The Exclusionary Rule

Definition: Evidence gathered in violation of the Constitution cannot be used in trial

1. Implements the Fourth Amendment (freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures) and the Fifth Amendment (protection against self incrimination)

2. Mapp v. Ohio (1961)– Supreme Court began to use the exclusionary rule to

enforce a variety of constitutional guarantees


Confessions and Self-Incrimination

• Fifth Amendment – protects against self-incrimination (“Plead the Fifth”)

• Ban initially meant to prevent torture or coercion; has since expanded to protect people who are unaware of their rights – Miranda v. Arizona• (Miranda Rights also cover the Sixth Amendment’s protection of right to counsel)


Due Process• Due process is always a balancing act

between the rights of the accused and the rights of society

• Warren Court of the 1960s greatly expanded the rights of the accused, to much criticism

Warren Court discussed in: Gideon Case (Lanahan #47)Miranda Rights Brown v. Board of Education


What Are Civil Rights?

• Group is denied access to facilities, opportunities, or services available to other groups

• Issue is whether differences in treatment are reasonable- Some differential treatment is reasonable (ex. progressive taxation)-Some differential treatment is not reasonable (ex. classifications by race or ethnicity)

Civil Rights: African American Struggle

The Campaign in the Courts

• Ambiguities in the Fourteenth Amendment -Broad interpretation: the Constitution is color blind, so no differential treatment is acceptable-Narrow interpretation: equal legal rights, but African-Americans and whites could otherwise be treated differently

• Supreme Court adopted narrow view in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)


Brown v. Board of Education (1954)• Unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned Plessy• Implementation

-Class action suit that applied to all similarly situation African American children -Local federal district courts were to implement

decisions-“All deliberate speed” met great resistance-Collapse of resistance did not occur until 1970s

• The Rationale-Segregation detrimental, creating sense of inferiority

in African American students-Relied on social science because the 14th

Amendment was not necessarily intended to abolish segregated schools and the Court sought a unanimous opinion Civil Rights: African American Struggle

The Campaign in Congress• Five bills pass, 1957-1968

-1957, 1960, 1965: voting rights laws-1968: housing discrimination law

Civil Rights Act of 1964: No discrimination in employment, public accommodations, voting, schools

• Since 1960s, mood of Congress has shifted and is now supportive of civil rights legislation

• Change in congressional response reflects both dramatic rise in African-American voting and change in white elite opinion


Women and Equal Rights • Seneca Fall Convention (1848): beginning of the

women’s rights movement; leaders demanded the right to vote

1. Several states, particularly in the West, granted women the franchise2. The 19th Amendment (1920) made clear that no one could be denied the right to vote based on sex

• Great change took place during WWII: large-scale female employment in non-traditional jobs in the defense industry

Civil Rights: Women

Women and Equal Rights Gender-based differences have

been prohibited by the courts• Age of adulthood• Drinking age• Arbitrary employee height-

weight requirements • Mandatory pregnancy leaves• Little League exclusion • Business and professional

associations • Retirement benefits • Salaries for high school

coaches of girls and boys

Gender-based differences allowed by courts

• Statutory rape• All-boy/all-girl public schools • Widows’ property tax

exemption • Delayed promotions in Navy

Civil Rights: Women

Women and Equal Rights

Sexual Harassment 1. Two forms:

-Quid pro quo rule: sexual favors required as a condition for holding a job or for promotion; employers are strictly liable

-Hostile environment: creating a setting in which harassment impairs a person’s ability to work; employers liable if they were negligent

2. Supreme Court positions continues to evolve and standards are not yet clearly articulated

Civil Rights: Women

Women and Equal Rights • Privacy and Sex

1. Regulating sexual matters traditionally a state function, under the exercise of the police powers (ex – states decided parameters for abortion)2. 1965: Griswold v. Connecticut: Supreme Court held that states could not prevent sale of contraceptives because that violated the zone of privacy

-Privacy not specifically mentioned in the Constitution but inferred from various provisions in the Bill of Rights 3. 1973: Roe v. Wade

-Struck down Texas ban on abortion and all similar state laws -Woman’s freedom to chose protected by 14th Amendment -Constitutional amendments to overturn Roe did not pass

Congress -Hyde amendment (1976): no federal funds for abortion

except when women’s life endangered

Civil Rights: Women

Women and Equal Rights • 1973-1989: Supreme Court withstood attacks on Roe v.

Wade• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989): Court

upheld some restrictions on abortions (funding)• Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision (1992) does not

overturn Roe but permits more restrictions• Struggle over abortion law has recently involved public

demonstrations and violence -Courts must balance the right to protest and the clinic’s right to function-Courts has upheld orders that forbid acts of physical obstruction and that provide a buffer zone of 15 feet around clinic entrances

Civil Rights: Women

Affirmative Action

• Affirmative action – preferential hiring practices should be used in hiring

Current Issues in Civil Rights

Affirmative Action• Equality of Results v. Equality of Opportunity –Which model should affirmative action follow?–Question debated in the courts, but there is no

clear direction from Supreme Court decisions• Court is deeply divided (affected by conservative

Reagan appointees) • Law complex and confusing, but some standards

have emerged for quotas and preference systems • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke


Equality of Results

• Racism and sexism can be overcome only by taking them into account in designing remedies

• Equal rights not enough, people need benefits • Women should be given material necessities,

such as free daycare, that will help them enter the workforce

• Position generally justified in the name of diversity or multiculturalism


Equality of Opportunity

• Reverse discrimination occurs when race or sex is used as a basis for preferential treatment

• Laws should be color blind and sex neutral• Government should only eliminate barriers • Supports tend to be conservative, favoring

traditional family arrangements


Affirmative Action: Famous Supreme Court Cases

– Adarand Constructors v. Pena—1995 (any racial classification is subject to strict scrutiny)

– Gratz v. Bollinger—2003 (overturned University of Michigan policy that gave “bonus points” to minority applicants into undergraduate programs)

– Grutter v. Bollinger—2003 (upheld University of Michigan Law School policy that used race as “plus factor” but not as part of numerical quota)

Quotas and Preference• Quota system subject to strict scrutiny – must be

a compelling state interest to justify quotas• Must correct actual pattern of discrimination• Must identify actual practices that discriminate• Federal quotas given deference because

Constitution gives Congress greater power to correct the effects of racial discrimination

• Voluntary preference systems easier to justify-Not likely to apply to persons laid off


Affirmative Action• Compensatory action v. preferential

treatment– Public supports compensatory action (helping

minorities catch up) and opposes preferential treatment (giving minorities preference, quotas)

– In line with United States political culture


Homosexual Rights Courts usually allow states to determine gay and lesbian

rights • Bowers v. Hardwick(1986): Georgia allowed to ban homosexual

sexual activity • Romer v. Evans(1996): Colorado voters had adopted state

constitutional amendment making it illegal to protect persons based on gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation

1. Supreme Court struck down Colorado amendment 2. Colorado amendment violated equal protection clause

• Lawrence v. Texas (2003): Texas law banned sexual conduct between persons of same sex

1. Supreme Court overturned law2. Used same language it has used in cases involving contraception,

abortion.


Larger Questions to Consider…

• The importance of the Fourteenth Amendment on expanding civil liberties to the citizens of the United States is paramount. The two main concepts found in the Fourteenth Amendment is “equal protection under the law” and “due process of the law.” For each of the six cases listed below tell if it is an equal protection or a due process case. Then select one equal protection case and one due process case and explain the significance of the decision to United States Politics. – Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS (1954) – Mapp v. Ohio (1961) – Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) – Baker v. Carr (1962) –voting districts can be challenged in court– Miranda v. Arizona (1966) – Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Larger Questions to Consider…• Affirmative action is defined as public policy

designed to give special attention or compensation to a previously disadvantaged group.– Describe a court case in which the Supreme Court

supported affirmative action and explain how the Court upheld the advantage to the recipient group.

– Describe a court case in which the Supreme Court opposed affirmative action and explain how the Court denied the advantage to the recipient group.

– Explain how the Supreme Court is reflecting public sentiment on the issue of affirmative action.

Larger Questions to Consider…

• In the United States, political and governmental structures and organizations can both promote and hinder the progress of Civil Rights. Of the three features listed below, select one and explain how this feature has helped the promotion of Civil Rights in the Unites States. Then select the same or different feature and explain how this feature has been an obstacle to the promotion of Civil Rights goals in the United States.– Federalism – The United States Political Party System – The United States Electoral System

unit 2 review powerpoint civil rights& civil liberties

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