1. Civil Rights and Public Policy
Chapter 5
Civil Rights and Public Policy

2. Introduction Civil Rights Racial Discrimination Gender Discrimination
Definition: policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals
Racial Discrimination
Gender Discrimination
Discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and other factors

3. Two Centuries of Struggle
Conceptions of Equality
Equal opportunity: same chances
Equal results: same rewards
Early American Views of Equality
The Constitution and Inequality
Equality is not in the original Constitution.
First mention of equality in the 14th Amendment: “…equal protection of the laws”

4. Two Centuries of Struggle

5. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Era One: Slavery
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Slaves had no rights.
Invalidated Missouri Compromise
The Civil War
The Thirteenth Amendment
Ratified after Union won the Civil War
Outlawed slavery

6. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

7. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Era Two: Reconstruction and Resegregation
Jim Crow or segregation laws
Relegated African Americans to separate facilities
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Louisiana law—segregated railroad cars.
Upheld the constitutionality of “equal but separate accommodations”
Segregation not unconstitutional as long as the separate facilities are equal.
Plessy made Jim Crow laws constitutional.

8. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

9. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Era Three: Civil Rights
Courts, not Congress or Executive, were the avenue to success. Why? Consequences?
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Overturned Plessy
School segregation inherently unconstitutional
What basis did they use?
One year later court ordered integration of schools “with all deliberate speed”
“All deliberate speed” = extremely slow until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 denied federal funds to segregated schools.

10. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Era of Civil Rights (continued)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Made racial discrimination illegal in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodation
Forbade employment discrimination based on race
Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Strengthened voting right legislation

11. Busing of students solution for two kinds of segregation:
Desegregation still proceeded slowly in the South and some federal judges ordered busing of students to achieve racially balanced schools
Upheld, but not required, by the Supreme Court in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools, 1971
Busing opposed by whites and blacks.
Busing of students solution for two kinds of segregation:
de jure, “by law”
de facto, “in reality”
Why is the distinction between “de jure” and “de facto” segregation be important?
How could de jure segregation be made to look like de facto segregation?

12. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

13. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right to Vote
Suffrage: the legal right to vote
15th Amendment (1870): extended suffrage to African American males.
States circumvented 15th Amendment through:
Grandfather Clause
Poll Taxes
Voter Registration Tests or Voter Literacy Tests
White Primary: Only whites were allowed to vote in the party primaries.

14. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right to Vote
Guinn v. U.S. (1915): ended Grandfather clauses
Smith v. Allwright (1944): ended white primaries
24th Amendment (1964): eliminated poll taxes for federal elections
Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966): no poll taxes at all
Voting Rights Act of 1965: helped end formal and informal barriers to voting
Federal registrars sent to areas of long discrimination
Major increase in African-Americans registered to vote

15. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Other Minority Groups
Native Americans-oldest minority group in U.S.
Not made citizens until 1924
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978)-strengthened tribal power, furthered self-gov’t by Indian tribes.
Hispanic Americans-Now largest minority group in U.S. (13%)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund-inspired by NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund
Asian Americans-fastest growing minority group
Korematsu v. United States (1944)—internment camps constitutional

16. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

17. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Battle for the Vote
Women’s movement emphasized legislation over litigation.
Modeled after abolition movement: sought right to vote, eliminate coverture, and educational and career opportunities.
Nineteenth Amendment: extended suffrage to women in 1920
The “Doldrums”:
Laws were designed to protect women, and protect men from competition with women.
Equal Rights Amendment
A proposed constitutional amendment first introduced in1923 and passed by Congress in 1972: “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on the basis of sex.
Has never gained the required the support of ¾ of state legislatures.

18. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy

19. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Second Feminist Wave
Reed v. Reed (1971)—males given preferential treatment in appointing administrators of estates.
“Arbitrary” gender discrimination violated 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause
Craig v. Boren (1976)—different drinking ages for males and females.
“Medium scrutiny” standard established for gender discrimination.
Equal Rights Amendment fails ratification by states (1982)

20. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Women in the Workplace
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned gender discrimination in employment.
Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth
The Supreme Court has not ruled on this issue.
Women in the Military
Only men may be drafted or serve in ground combat.
Sexual Harassment
Prohibited by Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964
Harris v. Forklift Systems (1993)-no single factor required in harassment case. The law is violated when the workplace environment “would reasonably be perceived” “as hostile or abusive.”
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998)-employers even liable for harassing acts of employees that violate clear policies.

21. Newly Active Groups Under the Civil Rights Umbrella
Civil Rights and the Graying of America
Age classifications not suspect category, but fall under rational basis test.
Reasonableness standard applied—voting age.
Civil Rights and People with Disabilities
Rehabilitation Act of 1973-twice vetoed by Nixon b/c too costly, added disabled people to list of Americans protected by discrimination.
Since the law defines an “inaccessible” environment as a form of discrimination, wheelchair ramps, grab bars in restrooms, and Braille signs have become common features in American life.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Requiring employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for those with disabilities
Prohibits employment discrimination against the disabled

22. Newly Active Groups Under the Civil Rights Umbrella
Gay and Lesbian Rights
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)—the Court allowed states to ban homosexual relations.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Overturned Bowers
Private homosexual acts are protected by the Constitution
Military service: 1993 “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” compromise
December 22, 2010 – President signed a bill that repealed the policy
Gay marriage
Many state constitutions amended to prohibit practice
All gay marriage ballot initiatives have failed.
Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the Federal Government from recognizing same-sex marriages
Proposition 8 in California

23. Gay Marriage by State

24. Affirmative Action
Definition: a policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment of members of some previously disadvantaged group
In education
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Racial set asides unconstitutional
Race could be considered in admissions
Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
Race could be considered a “plus” in admissions

25. Affirmative Action In employment United Steelworks v. Weber (1979)
Voluntary worker training program with quota.
Quotas to remedy past discrimination are constitutional.
Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995)
Lowest bidder contract given bonus if minority owned.
Unconstitutional, to be constitutional, affirmative action must be “narrowly tailored” to meet a “compelling governmental interest.”
Did not ban affirmative action, but severely limited its reach

26. Understanding Civil Rights and Public Policy
Civil Rights and Democracy
Democracy often conflicts with itself.
Equality favors majority rule, but threatens individual liberty
Suffrage gave many groups political power.
Civil Rights and the Scope of Government
Civil rights laws increase the size and power of government.
Civil rights protect individuals against collective discrimination.

27. Summary
Racial minorities and women have struggled for equality since the beginning of the republic.
Constitutional amendments and civil rights legislation guarantee voting and freedom from discrimination.
Civil rights have expanded to new groups.