civil rights Flashcards
Trump vs Hawaii
- 2018
- Banned countries such as Chad and Somalia to improve vetting on foreign nationals entering the US
- Allowed by the Supreme Court the third time despite being previously blocked as he took Chad off and added North Korea
- Muslim association of Hawaii argued against it saying it went against the immigration nationality act
Brown v. Board of education
1954: struck down “plessy v. Ferguson” based on 14th amendment ‘equal protection clause’
Obergefell v. Hodges
2015
Required all states to allow same-sex marriage (14th amendment equal protection clause)
US v. Windsor
2013
interpretation of marriage to apply only to couples of the opposite sex in the defence of marriage act was unconstitutional due to the due process clause of the 5th amendment
defence of marriage act
1996
defined marriage for legal purposes as that only between 2 members of the opposite sex
US v. Koromatsu
1944
Supreme Court upheld the placing of Japanese in concentration camps in response to Pearl Harbour
immigration reform and control act
1986
made it illegal to knowingly hire immigrants , but legalised immigrants who arrived before 1982.
failed as immigration rose from 5million to 11.1million in 2013
border protection, anti-terrorism and illegal immigration control act
2005
DHS to conduct a study into fencing on the Canadian border, increase to penalties for employing illegal workers and bring in prison sentences for anyone who assists illegal immigrants
failed as passed in house but not in the senate
border security, economic opportunity and immigration modernisation act
2013
made it possible for undocumented immigrants to gain legal status and citizenship. to introduce a new points based immigration system with a new entrepreneur visa and one for unskilled workers as well as a $1.5 billion youth jobs programme.
failed as despite being cosponsored by the gang of 8, it passed in senate but the house didn’t act on it
DACA
2012
allows some illegal immigrants renewable 2 year periods where they gain a work permit and immunity from deportation (but not citizenship)- upheld by SC
DAPA
2014
deferred action status to certain undocumented immigrants (3 year renewable permit and deportation immunity) - rescinded by Trump in 2017
reasons for the failure of immigration reform
- filibuster (needs 60 majority to overturn)
- federalism allows states to challenge reforms (eg lawsuit filed against DAPA at the SC)
- partisan nature of US government- eg comprehensive border security act and the border protection act made it through the house but not the senate
- constitution is codified
- ideological differences between presidents eg Trump rescinded DAPA and attempted to with DACA
Dream act
2001+reintroduced several times after
temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to qualifying immigrants who entered the United States as minors—and, if they later satisfy further qualifications, they would attain permanent residency
at no time did it gain gain a majority in the house and senate
racial gerrymandering in North Carolina
- 48% voted democrats but they only won 3/13 seats
- in 2010 districts had been gerrymandered by Republicans + Thomas Hofeller. They packed blacks into abnormally skinny district 12 (they used similarly packed black districts in the state senate elections)
- was labelled racial gerrymandering so he instead cracked democratic areas to make it political party gerrymandering instead
- rectified by state Supreme Court and similarly rectified in Florida but still exists elsewhere
Shaw vs Reno
1993
- plans for districts in North Carolina were changed to create 2 majority black districts rather than just 1. challenged on the grounds one district was abnormally skinny and so it was challenged by local residents
- ruled 5-4 that the districts were a bizarre enough to deem it unconstitutional/ a violation of the 14th amendment
Miller v. Johnson
1995
- Georgia was 27% black but with only 1/10 black districts so boundaries redrawn to add a 2nd majority black district
- 5-4 Conservative majority held this violated 14th amendment (equal protection clause)
Bush v. Vera
1996
- Texas planned 3 additional congressional districts
- Supreme Court ruled 5-4 (conservative majority) against these on the grounds that they were “highly irregular” in shape and thus `appeared to be racial gerrymandering- violated 14th amendment/ equal protection clause
citizenship question
proposed addition to the 2020 census, but overruled by the court who argued it would prevent turnout and the reasoning behind it (that it helped to enforce the voting rights act) was doubtful
implications/ consequences of adding a citizenship question
- adding the question could indicate racial minority areas and so aid racial gerrymandering
- illegal immigrants currently answer census which indicates that there are more eligible voters in that area than there actually are. This means that those living in that area get 1 senator/ house repair less eligible voters, undermining the idea of 1 man=1 vote
- lower turnout can mean that area receives less federal grants than it actually needs for the population
Shelby county v. Holder
Feb 27th 2013
- states no longer need federal pre-clearance before implementing changes to voting laws/ practices
consequences of Shelby county v. Holder
Texas, Mississippi and Alabama enforced previously banned strict photo ID laws
- 600,000 registered voters in Texas didn’t have acceptable ID under the new law and it had been banned previously as they had been unable to prove that it wasn’t discriminatory
- North Carolina implemented a similar bill as well as curtailing early voting and ending same day registration and annual voter registration drives. it was however struck down in 2016 as it targeted African Americans
Trump’s military transgender ban
announced on his Twitter on July 26th 2017
when did Trump rescind DAPA
2017
civil rights act
1964
prohibited discrimination in public places and employment discrimination + planned for school integration
