The Constitution and the Branches of Government Landmark Civil Rights Cases

Congress + Senate

Presidency Rules Qualifications Impeachment Succession

SUPREME COURT Justices serve for life and are appointed by the President. Power of judicial review Decides what law is Decides the meaning of laws. Not a court of personal justice ex: Roe v. Wade

Essential Question How far should the government go to make sure minorities and women are not discriminated against in jobs, education and housing? Use the 14 th amendment only? Busing? Affirmative action?

Landmark Civil Rights Cases DRED SCOTT V SANFORD (1857) PLESSY V FERGUSON (1896) BROWN V BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KS (1954) BAKKE V UC DAVIS REGENTS (1978) PARENTS OF COMMUNITY SCHOOLS V SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT (2006)

The anatomy of a court case: there must be a constitutional issue at stake Brown v Board of Education (1954) Plaintiff : person/group who is bringing the lawsuit or on whose behalf the lawsuit is brought Accused: person or group being sued Year case decided

The court’s decision Majority opinion –the decision that most justices voted for. (5 or more) Concurring opinion- agrees with majority but for different reasons/part of majority Dissenting opinion- the losing opinion but can still be important.

1857: Dred Scott case = Blacks had no standing to sue because they were property 1896: Plessy v Ferguson: “separate but equal” 1954: Brown v BOE: separate is NOT equal, schools must desegregate with “all deliberate speed.” white flight 1971: Swann v Mecklenburg BOE: forced busing to achieve racially balanced schools 2006: Parents of Community Schools v Seattle School District: Students cannot be assigned to schools solely on the basis of race only.

Dred Scott v Sanford (1857) Sued for his freedom S C ruled that slaves were property and thus could never be citizens SC rules that therefore, Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the territories.

Plessy v Ferguson (1896): “separate but equal” Plessy said that being forced to ride in a “colored” rail car violated the 14 th amendment (= protection clause) SC ruled 8-1 that separate facilities did not violate his rights as long as they were “equal.”

PRECEDENT Relying on what court decisions said in the past Using previous court rulings to decide today’s cases But the Warren Court realized that the Plessy decision was flawed and so they overturned it.

Brown v Board of Education (1954) page 708 Overturned “separate but equal” In an 9-0 decision the SC said that separate schools and facilities were inherently unequal. Why do you think it was important that this was a unanimous decision?

Result of Brown: MASSIVE RESISTANCE until……….

Eisenhower sends in the troops

Essential Question How far should the federal government go to make sure minorities and women are not discriminated against in jobs, education and housing? Use the 14 th amendment only? Busing? Affirmative action? What do you think?

Controversial solutions: 1970’s and 80’s: Busing

Busing protests

Affirmative Action A policy which gives special consideration to minorities and women to make up for past discrimination. TWO TYPES “GOALS AND TIME TABLES” QUOTAS

Why was Affirmative Action created? “Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with and the neighborhood you live in — by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child and, finally, the man.” Lyndon Johnson, on why he created Affirmative Action

More on Affirmative Action “You do not take a person hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘you are free to compete with all others’” Lyndon Johnson

Regents of the University of California v Bakke(1978): Affirmative Action case p. 818 Bakke had claimed that racial quotas in admissions had cost him a seat in medical school Divided SC ruled that race could be used as a factor in admissions but that quotas were not permissible

CASE Issues Plessy v Ferguson (1896) p. 290 Brown v. BOE (1954) p. 708 Facts of the case Law (s) being interpreted Related cases (precedent) Legal reasoning Impact

Quiz 1 Plessy v Ferguson (1896) 1) 2) 3) 4) The above case established the doctrine of “ ______________ but ____________” 5) Supreme Court justices are appointed for_________.

Quiz 2 1) Identify the person first and last name 2) Why did he sue for his freedom? Be specific using names of states, etc.

Quiz 2 - continued 3) What was the ruling in the case? 4) What effect did the ruling have? (historical impact) 5) Supreme Court justices serve for ______