4.4, 4.5, 4.6- civil rights Flashcards
What rights are protected by the 14th Amendment?
- any person born in the US is a citizen and therefore has constitutionally protected rights
- equal protection clause: prevented courts and states from narrowing the definition of ‘persons’
what ammendement gave african americans the right to vote?
15th ammendment - the right to vote could not be denied based on race
Give an example of when the enforcement of a SC ruling was reliant on other branches.
- Brown v BOE
- Many states failed to desegregate until Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act
give an example of when the SC was unable to be proactive in addressing a gap in the Constitution.
- prior to addressing gun rights in 2008 in the case DC v Heller, for many years the interpretation of the Second Amendment had been an issue
- DC v Heller ruled that the 2nd amendment protected an individual’s right to bear arms
Give an example of when a constitutional amendment overturned a SC ruling.
- the 14th Amendment overturned the ruling in Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)
- Dred Scott v Sandford ruled that African Americans were not citizens and therefore did not have constitutional protections
Give two examples of broad interpretations of rights protected by the Constitution.
- Obergefell v hodges
- Roe v wade
give an example of pressure groups protecting voting rights.
in the 2016 election, Native American groups were involved in improving native turnout.
e.g Get-Out-The-Native-Vote (GOTNV)
What are Jim Crow laws?
laws which continue to restrict minority rights- often used in southern states
- e.g literacy tests, voter ID’s
what was the act that helped to protect against Jim Crow voting laws?
1965- voting rights act
- any state with a history of discrimination had to get any changes to voting laws verified by the federal government
What are sanctuary cities?
- Cities that are reluctant to enforce government immigration legislation
- implement laws that are favourable to immigrants
give an example of when the sc upheld the 8th amendment- the death penalty.
Roper v Simmons (2005)- declared it unconstitutional to sentence anyone to death for a crime thy committed as a child
what was the case that established that race could in determining admissions?
University of California v Bakke (1978)
- ruled that the use of quotas was unconstitutional
Explain the case Grutter v Bollinger.
- date
- desision
Grutter v Bollinger (2003)
- upheald the use of affirmative action programs- as long as race was considered as one of many factors in admissions
- suggested that affirmative action programs would come to an end in 25 years
what was the recent case that put an end to affirmative action?
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard (2023)
- ruled that race based affirmative action programs were unconstitutional under the 14th ammendment equal protection clause
what did the “no longer seperate, not yet equal survey” show that students of other races would have to get in their SAT’S to be equaly as competitive as a black student with an SAT score of 1100?
- latino: 1280
- white: 1410
- asian: 1550
what was the change in the number of black people in white collar jobs between 1960 and 2002?
- 15% - 70%
How did Clarance Thomas argued that affirmative action programs create inequality?
- “they accept the notion that blacks are in some way inferior”
what did a 2011 report from the education trust say was the graduation rate amoung black people vs white people?
- 40% for black people
- 62% for white people
what are the arguments for affirmative action programs?
- promotes diversity
- tool to correct historical injucties and discrimination, improves enrollment of marginalised groups
- equality of opperunity- corrects institutional barriers
what are the arguments against affirmative argument?
- reverse discrimination- non minorities experienc disadvantages
- undermines merit bases selection
- does not adress the root of the problem- does not properly equip individuals for higher education
- stigmatises successfull candidates
what was the case that upheald segregation?
plessy v ferguson: ‘seperate but equal’ - ruled that segregation was legal if all races had the same quality of services
give an example of a supreme court desision on rights that passed with only 6 of 9 votes.
- dobbs v jackson womens health
- students for fair admissions v harvard (6 of 8)
give an example of a failed reform from the BLM protest.
the geroeg floyd juctice in policing act passed in the house but stalled in the senate due to republican conserns over ending the qualified immunity for police officiers
how many non-white state governors are there currently?
3
what are majority minority districts? when were they create? how many are there in the HOR?
- district lines are redrawn so the majority of a population is a minority
- created by the 1965 VRA
- 236 in the HOR
what are the arguments that civil rights have been effectively upheald?
- rights have been extended by living constitutionalist interpretations (riley vs cali 2014, ob vs hd 2015, b v BOE)
- rights are effectively protected by the consitituion and the originalist interpretations of rights (DC v hellar, cit vs FEC)
- rights are protected by congress/ govt (VRA, ACA)
- rights are protected by interest groups (BLM, NRA)
what are the arguments that rights have not been effectively protected?
- originalist interpretation of the current supreme court has not effectively protected rights (shelby county, SFFA v harv, cit vs FEC)
- rights not effecively protected by congress (VRA was struck down, failure to pass DREAM or BREATH (proposed by BLM), failure to pass ER ammd)
- congress/ govt restricts rights through asylum policies
- rights not protected by IG: relies on govt support, NRA loss of life
