Civil Rights

Definition:

· Equality of rights regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity.

Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights

· Civil Liberties in Constitution

· Civil Rights in laws and & court cases

· Civil liberties prohibit government actions

· Civil rights broadly require government action to protect rights

Constitutional Source

3 Post Civil War Amendments

· 13th – Abolishing Slavery

· 14th – equal application of law for all citizens

· 15th – former slaves given right to vote.

14th Amendment

· Due Process Amendment

· No state shall deny to any person equal protection of the laws

· Primary purpose to protect African Americans in the South after Civil War

· Much Broader applications today

5th Amendment

· No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without just compensation

Both interpreted to apply to people regardless of their race

Identifying Discrimination

When are laws discriminatory?

When people classified by law or by practice

Example:

· Law that excludes women from serving on juries

· Prosecutors systematically exclude women from juries in death penalty cases

Note: Not all legal classifications discriminatory, they are sometimes beneficial

.

Showing discrimination:

1. Law has discriminatory effect

2. Government has no compelling interest to classify

Determined by

1. Reading the statute

2. Analyzing application

· statistical evidence of discrimination

Civil Rights Laws

Active role by government to protect individuals from discrimination

Interpretations have changed over time.

Since 1950s, laws passed & court decisions that protect civil rights

Important Court Decisions.

Civil Rights and Important Court Cases

Dred Scott

· Ruled slaves were property, could be taken across state lines.

· Voided Missouri Compromise forbidding slavery north of Arkansas - Missouri border.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

· Separate but equal

· man of mixed race tried to ride train in white section, and barred from doing so

· Court upholds segregation under premise that keeping races separate acceptable if facilities are equal.

Implications far reaching, especially in education.

Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, KS (1954)

· Plessy overturned

· Separate is inherently unequal.

· Court unanimously agreed school segregation is wrong.

· Desegregation to be undertaken quickly.

Congressional Actions

Civil Rights act of 1964

· 3 major provisions

1. Ban on racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations

2. Ban on discrimination in employment

3. Ban on discrimination at any educational inst receiving federal money

Voting rights act of 1965

· Ended practices that prevented African-Americans from registering to vote.

o Poll Taxes

o Literacy tests

· If numbers did not increase, federal examiners would register African -American voters.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

· prohibited discrimination in sale and rental of housing

Affirmative Action

· Programs designed to overcome effects of past discrimination

· Give some form of preferential treatment to minorities & women.

· Equal Employment Opportunities Act (1972)

· Government & universities receiving federal funds seek to increase employment of minorities & women.

· Initially, used racial quotas to increase diversity

· Charges of reverse discrimination

The Bakke Decision

University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978)

· Bakke denied admission to UC-Davis medical school

· Bakke was qualified to gain admission

· UC-Davis had a minority quota of 16%.

Court ruled:

· Ruled that rigid quotas unconstitutional

· Schools could use race as factor in admissions to create a diverse student body.