Equal Rights Under the Law Chapter 18

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• Equal Rights Under the Law- Chapter 18
• The Framers wanted to protect our Natural
  Rights
• These rights are for ALL PEOPLE, not just
  citizens (sometimes called human rights)
• There is a distinction between Civil Liberties
  and Civil Rights
• Civil Liberties is a term that refers to your
  actual freedom (speech, religion, and expression)
• Civil Rights is your right NOT to be
  discriminated against because of race, religion,
  gender, etc
• The Constitution
• Ensures that government officials do not
  discriminate against us
• grants national and state governments the power
  to protect civil rights

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• EQUALITY AND EQUAL RIGHTS
• Some say equality is indefinable
• It can include
• Equality of Opportunity- no one is discriminated
  against because of race, ethnic origin, religion,
  gender, sexual orientation
• Equality of starting conditions- everyone should
  be born into a situation in which they can
  succeed. If not, the government sometimes helps
  (i.e. Head Start programs)
• Equality between groups- If there is a disparity
  between wealth groups need programs like
  Affirmative Action to provide special help to
  those who have been discriminated against.
• Equality of results- There are two views
• There should be a safety net so that no one
  falls below. Everyone should have the same
  amount (or close to) of material goods
• No matter the situation, if you work hard things
  will get better

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• THE QUEST FOR EQUAL JUSTICE
• Racial Equality
• Womens Rights
• Hispanics
• Asian Americans
• Native Americans
• EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS
• The equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment
  says that the 5th
• Amendment also applies to the states
• The government may not use unreasonable
  classifications of people
• It is unreasonable when there is no relation
  between the classes it creates and
• the government goal

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• Well, what is Constitutional and what is not?
  The S.C. uses 3 tests
• 1. The Rational Basis Test
• This says that the parties attacking the law must
  show there is no rational or legitimate
  governmental goal
• 2. Suspect Classifications and Strict Scrutiny
• Court must be persuaded that there is a
  compelling public interest to justify such a
  classification and no less restrictive way to
  accomplish this purpose.
• 3. Quasi-suspect Classification and Heightened
  Scrutiny
• The government must show how its classification
  serves important governmental objectives.
• VOTING RIGHTS
• Some voting initiatives have been declared
  illegal
• White primaries
• Racial gerrymandering
• Poll tax
• Literacy test
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited voting
  qualifications that result in a denial of that
  right to any citizen because of race and color

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• EDUCATION RIGHTS
• Jim Crow Laws were around, and Plessy v. Ferguson
  said that separate is OK, but it must be equal
• Then, the Brown v. Board decision in 1954
  desegregated schools
• Problem was that blacks and whites were in
  separate neighborhoods and so
• some federal courts began busing students back
  and forth
• The S.C. said that busing was OK only if it was a
  result of officially sanctioned segregation or de
  jure segregation
• The S.C. refused to permit federal judges to
  order busing because of de facto segregation (or
  segregation resulting from economic or social
  conditions)

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• RIGHTS OF ASSOCIATION, ACCOMMODATIONS, JOBS, AND
  HOMES
• Association
• You can create an all-black, all-white,
  all-Catholic, or all-Jewish club, but the
  government may not tell someone what club he/she
  can or must join
• Small organizations (less than 400 members) can
  discriminate against sex or race
• But, the S.C. said that the Boy Scouts can
  exclude homosexuals because of their overall
  mission (Dale v. Boy Scouts 2000)
• Accommodations
• The commerce clause was used to help the Civil
  Rights Act of 1964 enforce action against
  discrimination
• Title II- place of public accommodation
• Anyone or any place that may serves interstate
  travelers or serves food or product that have
  moved in interstate commerce cannot discriminate
  based on race or sex
• Title VII- employment
• And employer or trade union that affects
  interstate commerce and employs 15 or more people
  cannot discrimination because of face, etc

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• Equal Protection Under the Law
• What does equal protection mean?
• It basically means that governments cannot draw
  unreasonable distinctions among different groups
  of people
• Well, Unreasonable is the key wordthe government
  must classify or draw distinctions among the
  categories of people
• Can a state put a large tax on cigarettes? It
  taxes smokers, but not non-smokers

• The S.C. has made basic guidelines for
  considering when a state law or action might
  violate the equal protection clause
• 1. RATIONAL BASIS TEST
• The state must have a good reason to justify the
  classification of someone
• It must be reasonably related
• For examplenot allowing redheads to drive a car
  would violate the Equal Protection Clause because
  there is no relationship between the two
• BUT, not allowing 16 year olds to have more than
  one person in the car with them would not violate
  it because there is a relationship between the
  amount of people in a young persons car and the
  frequency of accidents

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• 2. Suspect Classifications
• This is when a classification is based on race or
  national origin
• (i.e. saying that blacks, not whites must ride in
  the back of a bus)
• 3. Fundamental Rights
• There are rights that go to the heart of the
  American system or are indispensable in a just
  system
• Some examples of these rights are the right to
  travel freely, right to vote, and the 1st
  Amendment rights
• PROVING INTENT TO DISCRIMINATE
• Discrimination is when individuals are treated
  unfairly just because of their race, gender,
  ethnic group, age, physical disabling, religion,
  sexual orientation)
• They way prove this has happened is that you must
  show that an intent to discriminate motivated the
  states action

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• THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
• There is a different between racial
  discrimination and segregation
• The Jim Crow Laws required racial segregation
• The S.C. actually said this was OK in Plessy v.
  Ferguson
• As long as everything was separate but equal
• This was overturned by the Brown v. Board of
  Education decision in 1954
• Civil Rights for all?
• How can you be discriminated against?
• Age
• Weight
• Sexual orientation
• Religion
• Skin color
• Country of origin
• What should be allowed?

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• Challenges for Civil Liberties
• Affirmative Action
• Government policy that directly or indirectly
  give a preference to minorities, women, or the
  physically challenged in order to make up for
  past discrimination caused by society as a whole
• In Education
• The Supreme Court said in University of Calf v.
  Bakke that race can play a role in admission as
  long as they DID NOT set aside a specific number
  of students by using a quota
• It is used in the workforce as well
• Some call it reverse discrimination
• The Right to Privacy
• It is no where in the Constitution, but the S.C.
  said that it is allowed
• This has opened the door for many things, but not
  gay rights