1. Civil Rights

2. What are Civil Rights? Civil Rights –Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by laws, government officials or individuals. Includes protections from –Racial Discrimination –Gender Discrimination –Discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and other factors

3. What are civil rights? Civil rights: –Protect certain groups against discrimination –Found in the Equal Protection Clause of the 14 th Amendment Civil liberties: –Constitutional protections for individuals against government action –Incorporated via the Due Process Clause of the 14 th Amendment

4. What are Civil Rights? 14 th Amendment guaranteed “equal protection of the law” but was ignored for nearly a century African Americans, denied access to facilities, opportunities, and services available to other groups, began the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s-60s.

5. Protected Class: Who & Why? Courts have said: There must be equal opportunity and treatment under the law Courts judge whether differences in treatment are reasonable. People protected from discrimination include minorities, women, those over 40, and the disabled. What do these groups have in common?

6. Classifications Courts have used a classification system to determine if treating groups differently under the law is justified Examples: –When might it be OK to treat men and women differently under the law? –When might the law need to treat races differently? –Is it just to treat disabled citizens differently under the law?

7. Classifications

8. Strict scrutiny: racial classifications are inherently suspect and are rarely, if ever, upheld as just (difficult) Mid-level review: gender classifications are allowed only if they have an important legislative purpose (moderate) Rational basis test: Different treatment of other groups may be reasonable if there is evidence of a legitimate government purpose for it. (easy)

9. Race, the Constitution and Public Policy No mention of equality in original Constitution 14 th Amendment first clarified the concept by ensuring all Americans must receive “equal protection of the laws”

10. Race, the Constitution and Public Policy Dred Scott, 1857= Supreme Court decision that upheld slavery 13 th Amendment, 1865= outlawed slavery 14 th Amendment, 1868=extended citizenship to former slaves –Includes Due Process & Equal Protection clauses 15 th Amendment=black men right to vote Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 = separate but equal doctrine established

11. Why was the Civil Rights Movement Necessary? View A Time for Justice America’s Civil Rights Movement clips Show parts 1 & 2

12. Challenging the Separate but Equal Doctrine in Plessy Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 = separate but equal doctrine established; Jim Crow laws OK in South NAACP develops legal strategy to challenge Plessy / Separate but Equal Step 1: Attack obvious inequalities; these were addressed in 1938–1948 cases Step 2: Showing that segregation creates inequality in less obvious cases Step 3: declaring that separation is inherently unequal - Brown v. Board of Education

13. Brown v. Board of Education Background: –Civil Rights leaders looked for a good case to challenge Plessy –Some facilities were unequal, but others less. In Topeka, Kansas, the school district had gone out of its way to create equally funded black schools. These were good schools

14. Brown v. Board of Education Unanimous Supreme Court opinion overturning Plessy v. Fergusson (Separate but Equal Doctrine) Segregation is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection clause of 14 th Amendment. Segregation inherently creates a sense of inferiority for African American students Brown decision marks the end of legal segregation in U.S.

15. After the Brown Decision The Court ruled that desegregation must proceed with “all deliberate speed.” But schools resisted; many whites fled to private schools Congress withdrew aid to schools who didn’t desegregate; Courts stepped in By early 1970’s, most schools were integrated

16. Trying to end segregation… Through the courts and acts of Congress, the federal government was able to remedy much of the segregation in public places This is De jure segregation: by law But government can’t control other forms of segregation… De facto segregation: in fact; in practice –Where people live and who they associate with; this still exists today

17. Desegregation v. Integration Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg (1971): Remedies may include racial quotas, redrawn district lines, and court-ordered busing Inter-city busing could be authorized only if both the city and the suburbs had practiced segregation Busing remains controversial

18. Civil Rights Act of 1964 Prohibits discrimination in public places. Forbids discrimination in employment. Creates the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Withholds federal grants from discriminating institutions (i.e. schools). Authorizes suits by the Justice Department.

19. Getting and Using the Right To Vote –Suffrage: The legal right to vote. This was a key issue in the Civil Rights Movement –Fifteenth Amendment: Extended suffrage to African Americans –Poll Taxes: Small taxes levied in order to vote. –White Primary: Only whites were allowed to vote in the party primaries. –Literacy tests: Very difficult and technical; average person couldn’t pass; kept blacks from voting

20. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy Getting and Using the Right To Vote –Smith v. Allwright (1944): ended white primaries. –Twenty-fourth Amendment: 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. (End literacy tests)

21. Voting Rights Act of 1965 Helped end formal and informal barriers to voting. Ended literacy tests Southern states’ voting procedures are scrutinized by national government Dramatically increases the number of African Americans registered to vote # of African Americans elected to office increases dramatically

22. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. (1964) A hotel owner refused to rent rooms to African Americans He claimed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 infringed on his rights as a private property owner The Court upheld Congress’s authority to pass the Civil Rights Act under the Commerce Clause.

23. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy: Other Minorities –Native Americans Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978): Court strengthens self government by tribes –Hispanic Americans Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund –Asian Americans Korematsu v. United States (1944): Court upheld internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII

24. Quick Write: Civil Rights How has the 14 th Amendment been used to address racial discrimination? Use at least TWO of the following terms to support / explain your answer. –14 th Amendment (cite the clause that applies to civil rights) –Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 –Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 (explain the political significance of the Court’s decision) –Civil Rights Acts and Movement

25. Gender-Based Discrimination The Battle for the Vote –Nineteenth Amendment: Extended suffrage to women in 1920

26. Gender-Based Discrimination Mid-level review versus strict scrutiny Court chooses a blend—somewhere between suspect and highly suspect Arbitrary differences in treatment are NOT allowed. Some gender-based differences, such as the all-male draft, are allowed by courts

27. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment that is pervasive and creates a hostile work environment is a form of gender discrimination illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Harris v. Forklift Systems, 1993 reinforces this—workers aren’t required to prove psychological damage to win

28. Sexual Harassment Quid pro quo: If sexual favors are required as a condition for holding a job or for promotion; employers are strictly liable Hostile environment: Creates a setting in which harassment impairs a person’s ability to work; employers are liable if they were negligent

29. Affirmative Action Definition: –A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment to members of some previously disadvantaged group. A move towards equal results? Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Activity: Read Bakke case; look at current cases

30. Gay Rights & the Constitution Mixed record in the courts Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) allows states to ban homosexual relations 2000, Boy Scouts could exclude a gay man from being an adult member because his homosexuality violates the principles of the organization

31. Gay Rights & the Constitution Romer v. Evans (1996): Colorado voters adopted state constitutional amendment making it illegal to protect persons based on gay, lesbian or bisexual orientation; the Court overturns Lawrence v. Texas (2003): The Court overturned a Texas law banning sexual conduct between same sex couples; violates equal protection clause

32. The Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) Requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees. Was an unfunded mandate This has given rise to two issues: –What constitutes a disability? –What is meant by a “reasonable” accommodation?