1. Clauses in Constitution & Supreme Court Cases Lecture #2

2. Review of Terms - Democracy = government by the people - Popular Sovereignty = people are the source of the government’s power - Republic/representative govt = govt that rules through elected representatives - “Consent of the Governed” – comes from John Locke. Means govt gets authority from the people

3. Due Process Clause – 5 th & 14 th Amendment  “No person shall be deprived of life,liberty, or property without due process of law”.  Due process of law means govt must follow procedures established by law  5 th amendment – protects people from unfair treatment by Federal govt  14 th amendment – protects people from unfair treatment by state govt

4. Equal Protection Clause  14 th amendment – protects people (minorities) from unfair discrimination by government  Example: Brown v. Board of Education ROL: Rule of Law – refers to the law used to decide a court case

5. Tinker v.Des Moines School District (1969)  ROL: 1 st amendment – freedom of expression  Background: H.S. students suspended for wearing black armbands to school in protest of Vietnam War  Outcome: Sp Ct ruled that school administration’s action was an unnecessary limitation of freedom of expression. Students were allowed back in school.

6. Plessy v. Ferguson  ROL: 14 th amendment – Equal Protection Clause  Background: Black man, Homer Plessy, bought a ticket (rail car) and sat in car reserved for whites only.  Outcome: Sp Ct ruled that as long as facilites (bathrooms, schools, etc) were equal, there was no discrimmination. (“Separate, but equal doctrine”). Allowed states to practice segregation for almost 60 years.

7. Brown v. Board of Education  ROL: Equal Protection Clause (5 th & 14 th Amendment)  Background: 6 year old black girl, Linda Brown, not allowed to attend white elementary school 2 blocks from her house. Parents sued – discrimination.  Outcome: - Sp Ct overturned Plessy v. Ferguson when court changed its interpretation of the equal protection clause - Brown decision – separate facilities are inherently unequal - Brown case was turning point in fight against discrimination, but it dealt only with segregation of schools. (It did NOT auto end discrimination.)