Ch 5
Civil Rights
Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights
• Civil liberties– 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
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
Before Civil War
• Slavery
• Restrictions on movement• Restrictions on education• No rights to own property• No rights to serve on juries• Miscegenation bans
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
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)
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
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• Civil rights laws in south rescinded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
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”
Brown v. Topeka BOE (1954)
• Overturned Plessy
• Ruled separate accommodations inherently unequal
• Ordered desegregation of public schools
After Brown
• Massive Resistance– Southern efforts to fight Brown– Some states closed public schools– Set up vouchers for private schools
“Brown II”(1955)
• Closing public schools / issuing private school vouchers unconstitutional if solely racial in purpose
• Desegregate with “all deliberate speed"
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)
Voting rights
• Originally, states controlled ALL voter requirements
• 15th am was 1st restriction to state control over voting
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
Voting Rights Act 1965
• Banned literacy tests
• Banned grandfather clause
• Required southern states to get electoral map preapproved
Women’s rights
• Women’s rights movement arose from 2nd Great Awakening (1840s)– Along with abolition and temperance
• 19th amendment (1920)
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”
Gender issues
• Wage discrimination
• Comparable worth
• Glass ceiling
• Educational opportunities
• Sexual harassment
• Women in military
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
Affirmative Action
• Beneficial treatment for groups subjected to past discrimination
• Preferences in gov contracts for business, education admission, etc.
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
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?
What discriminations are ok?
• Court created 2 standards to decide:
– Strict scrutiny• For racial discriminations• Assume wrong unless proven otherwise