1. Ch 5
Civil Rights

2. Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights
Fundamental freedoms protecting citizens from government
Freedoms in Bill of Rights
Civil rights
Rights citizens have to equal treatment
Equality of government services
Equality in application of civil liberties

3. De jure vs. De facto segregation
De jure segregation
Segregation mandated by law
De facto segregation
Segregation that exists as a fact of life
Real-life choices of all people

4. Before Civil War Slavery Restrictions on movement
Restrictions on education
No rights to own property
No rights to serve on juries
Miscegenation bans

5. Scott v. Sanford (1857) AKA Dred Scott decision Slavery constitutional
African Americans have no rights, even if they’re free
Congress can’t ban slavery in new states

6. Reconstruction amendments
13 – abolished slavery
14 – made slaves citizens; assured equal protection under the law
15 – allowed right to vote for freed slaves (among others)

7. What does Equal Protection entail?
Battle from the beginning:
Equal protection of life, liberty & property
Equal treatment by gov / attempts by gov to promote equality
Early cases—more conservative interpretation won

8. 1876 election Hayes (R) defeated Tilden (D)
Disputed election decided by House
Made a deal w/southern reps – elect Hayes, he ends Reconstruction
Civil rights laws in south rescinded
Jim Crow laws instituted

9. Jim Crow laws De jure segregation on mass scale
Mostly in South (but not only)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Segregation is ok if accommodations are “separate but equal”

10. Brown v. Topeka BOE (1954) Overturned Plessy
Ruled separate accommodations inherently unequal
Ordered desegregation of public schools

12. After Brown Massive Resistance Southern efforts to fight Brown
Some states closed public schools
Set up vouchers for private schools

13. “Brown II”(1955)
Closing public schools / issuing private school vouchers unconstitutional if solely racial in purpose
Desegregate with “all deliberate speed"

14. Civil Rights Act 1964 Banned discrimination in public places
Prohibited employment discrimination
Withheld federal $ from discriminating school systems
Gave Justice Dept power to sue institutions to enforce civil rights laws
(Discrimination didn’t just include race)

15. Voting rights Originally, states controlled ALL voter requirements
15th am was 1st restriction to state control over voting

16. Efforts to stop minority voting
Literacy test
Grandfather clause exempted many white voters from test requirement
White primary
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
Poll taxes
Racial gerrymandering

18. Voting Rights Act 1965 Banned literacy tests Banned grandfather clause
Required southern states to get electoral map preapproved

19. Women’s rights
Women’s rights movement arose from 2nd Great Awakening (1840s)
Along with abolition and temperance
19th amendment (1920)

20. Equal Rights Amendment
Proposed by Congress in 1972
7-yr requirement for ratification
¾ of states didn’t ratify, expired
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex”

21. Gender issues Wage discrimination Comparable worth Glass ceiling
Educational opportunities
Sexual harassment
Women in military

22. Other civil rights issues
Age discrimination laws
Age Disc in Employment Act (1967)
Disability laws
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
Gay & lesbian rights
Don’t ask, don’t tell
Right to privacy cases

23. Affirmative Action
Beneficial treatment for groups subjected to past discrimination
Preferences in gov contracts for business, education admission, etc.

24. U of CA Regents v. Bakke (1978)
Banned “reverse discrimination” in college admissions
Can’t make race the main determining factor in admissions
Can use race as one of many elements in admissions process

25. What discriminations are ok?
Court created 2 standards to decide:
Reasonableness / Rational basis test
For non-race discriminations
Assume OK unless proven otherwise
Is there a rational basis for difference?

26. What discriminations are ok?
Court created 2 standards to decide:
Strict scrutiny
For racial discriminations
Assume wrong unless proven otherwise