Dred Scott to the ADA Civil Rights in the USA May 29, 2008 Please be in your seats with your Ivan Nikonov reading out.

Research 1.Use the Textbook to find case details for:  Dred Scott Decision 2.Use the Textbook to find case details for:  Plessy v. Ferguson 3.Use the Textbook to find case details for:  Brown v. Board of Education

Remember Ivan  Why does the USA offer education to all people?  Does the Constitution offer a right to an education?

Dred Scott v. Sandford  1857 Case Details  Dred Scott is a slave who lived with his owner in Missouri, a slave state.  Moves to Illinois and then Wisconsin  Sues for his freedom after his owner dies.

Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision  Scott has no standing before the court because he is a slave.  Slaves are property not people.  Congress can not outlaw slavery in any US territory.

Plessy v. Ferguson  1896 Case Details  In 1890, the State of Louisiana passed a law that required separate accommodations for blacks and whites on railroads, including separate railway cars.  A group of concerned Louisiana citizens (both black and white) want to test the law.  Plessy is chosen to test the law because he is 1/8 African American  Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave a whites only rail car on the East Louisiana Railroad.  Plessy argues that his 13 th and 14 th amendment rights are violated

Plessy v. Ferguson The Decision  There is no violation of the 13 th (abolition of slavery) amendment.  The court decides 7-1 that Plessy’s 14 th amendment rights were not violated because the separate facilities were equal.  The doctrine (legal principle) of separate but equal is established.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas  1954 Case Details  13 parents representing 20 students sue the Topeka School board asserting that their separate facilities are not equal.  They cite poor facilities, segregated schools far from home.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas The Decision  The court finds 9-0 in favor of the parents.  Separate is inherently (by definition) unequal. "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.“  Court follows this decision with 2 more cases (Brown I and Brown II) that order desegregation.  Schools in the US are not desegregated until 1970.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act  July 2, 1964 The Law Outlawed discrimination in voting, employment, and public services, such as transportation based on:  race  Color  Religion  sex  national origin  Gave the Attorney General Power to enforce this law.

The Commerce Clause Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution (known as the Commerce Clause) reads as follows:  "The Congress shall have Power...To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."  Commerce is understood to mean more than economic interaction, but to include all significant human interactions. For example, “the free commerce of ideas”

IDEA  1975 – Most recently amended and renewed in2004 All Children have the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education  Applies to Schools receiving money from the US Government.  Initially called The Education of All Handicapped Children (EHA)  Renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act  Ensured due process rights  Mandated IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for students with disabilities  Mandated LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) for students with Disabilities

ADA  1990  Americans with Disabilities Act  To ensure that no other wise qualified person with a disability is denied access to, benefits of, or is subject to discrimination solely on the basis of their disability in the following areas: 1. employment 2. public services and transportation 3. public accommodations 4. telecommunications 5. miscellaneous provisions  504 plans