8. Civil Rights Flashcards
Protection of civil rights - landmark rulings of the Supreme Court do protect rights
2nd amendment - D.C. v Heller (2008)
1st amendment - Snyder v Phelps (2011), Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores (2014)
8th amendment - Ring v Arizona 2002
Protection of civil rights - landmark rulings of the Supreme Court do not protect rights
2nd amendment
1st amendment
8th amendment - Glossip v Gross (2015)
Civil right issues - free speech
Stregnthened - Snyder v Phelps (2011) - the Supreme Court ruled that free speech in public, even if considered offensive or caisng emotional distress is not limited in an 8-1 ruling. This was after the events at the Westboro Baptist Church where protesters, protested at the funerals of solders killed in action.
Weakened - Parker v. Levy (1974) the Supreme Court ruled that there are limits of free political expression for those serving in the armed forces as the demands of military necessity are superior to individual constitutional rights in the military setting.
Civil right issues - religion
Strengthened - Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores (2014) - the Supreme Court ruled that the government (nor Obamacare) cannot require employers to provide insurance cover for birth control if it conflict with the relgious beliefs of the employers. All 3 female jusices dissented in this ruling claiming that t limited women’s rights.
Weakened - McCreary County v. ACLU (2005) ruled that the Ten Commandment displays in two Kentucky county courthouses violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Civil right issues - gun control
Strengthened - D.C. v Heller (2008) - the Supreme Court ruled that there is a right to individual gun ownership without a connection to a militia, and for the use in the home for self-defence which struck down a 1975 Act by the District of Columbia
Weakened - US Congress imposed federal regulation of firearms with the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban which prohibited the manufacture of some semi-automatic firearms, limiting the 2nd amendment right to bear arms
Civil right issues - searches/ privacy
Stregthened - Carpenter v U.S. (2018) - the Supreme Court ruled that to acquire cell phone data amout to a 4th Amendment search and therefore a warrant is required o access it
Weakeneded -Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization 2022 ruled that the right to an abortion did not come under the 14th Amendment thus it was now up to states whether women had the legal right to an abortion and the terms to which had to be met
Civil right issues - right to silence
Stregthened - Miranda v. Arizona (1966) - the Supreme Court established the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation
Weakened - Salinas v Texas (2013) - the Supreme Court ruled that remaining silent before being read your Miranda rights can be used as evidence in court. This was after the police questioning a man who was willinging responding to police questions before being asked about the shotgun. The police used his silence as evidence which was upheld as it was before his Miranda rights were read out
Civil right issues - freedom from capital punishment
Strengthened - Ring v Arizona 2002 ruled that death sentences imposed by judges, rather than juries, were unconstitutional as they infringed the 7th Amendment Right to trial by jury
Weakened - Glossip v Gross (2015) - the Supreme Court ruled that the lethal injection containing midazolam does not violate ‘cruel and unsual punishments’ outlawed in the 8th amendment.
Civil right issues - women’s rights
Strengthened - Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt (2016) - the Supreme Court ruled that the requirement placed on abortion centres by Texas law H.B.2 were an ‘undue burden’ and therefore unconstitutional.
Weakened - Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization 2022 which meant that a women’s right to an abortion is no longer protected by the constitution
Civil right issues - LGBTQ rights
Strengthened - Obergefell v Hodges (2015) - the Supreme Court effectivley legalised gay marraige across the US overriding the state laws that outlawed it.
Weakened - Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018) - The Supreme Court ruled that the business owner could refuse to custom design a cake for a same-sex wedding
Civil right issues - immigration
Strengthened - Arizona v U.S. (2012) - the Supreme Court struck down key aspects of Arizona’ SB 1070 law, strking down the provision that immigrants must carry registration documents becuase it conflicted with a federal law.
Weakened - Texas v U.S. (2016) - the Supreme Court ruled 4-4 which meant the lower court ruling stood, which struck down Obama’s DAPA executive order.
Trump v Hawaii (2018) - ruled that Trump’s so-called ‘travel ban’ was not unconstitutional and fell within the remit of executive power
The Supreme Court has successful protected voting rights
NAACP v Steen (2016) - the Supreme Court struck down a part of Texas’??????
The Supreme Court has not successful protected voting rights
Shelby County v Holder 2013 - Shelby County v Holder 2013, the Court struck down the preclearance formula as unconstitutional with the belief the country had changed. The immediate consequence was Texas announced that a voter identification law which had been blocked would go into immediate effect and that the state’s redistricting maps would no longer need fed gov approval.
Husted v Randolph Institute (2018) - The Supreme Court ruling allowed Ohio to continue its practice of ‘voter caging’ where if you had not voted for a while you recieved a notice through the mail and if this is returned undelivered and the voter does not vote in the next 2 federal elections they are struck down from the voting register. Would have had a huge impact on the 2018 midterms where peple turnt up to vote to realise they are no longer registered.
Congress has successfully protected voting rights
1965 Voting Rights Act - outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting
2006 Congress (with Bush’s support) re-authorised the Voting Rights Act’s key provisions for another 25 years- included the controversial Section 4 determined which states and localities must have major changes in their voting laws as they aren’t aligned with the act properly
In 1971, the 26th Amendment was ratified lowering the voting age to 18.
Congress has failed to protect voting rights
By 2016 the Brennan Center for Justice estimated that 6 million Americans had lost the right to vote because of previous criminal convictions. Estimated 1 in 13 voting-age African-Americans had lost the right to vote through a past conviction (the rate is 4 time higher than all other Americans)
