Comparative civil rights Flashcards
1
Q
What are the similarities regarding the protection of rights in the UK and USA?
A
- Both UK and US legislatures can pass legislation to protect citizen’s rights
E.g. the 2010 Equality Act (UK)
E.g. the 1965 Civil Rights Act (US) - Both the US and the UK have parts of their constitutions that clearly express the rights of their citizens
E.g. the US Bill of Rights
E.g. UK HRA 1998 - Both UK and US benefit from the rule of law and independent judiciaries which can make rulings against the government on behalf of citizens
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015
E.g. R v Secretary of State for the Home Department
2
Q
What are the differences regarding the protection of rights in the UK and USA?
A
- In the US, civil liberties are entrenched in the Constitution
E.g. 6th Amendment guarantees speedy and fair trial - In the UK, civil liberties are not entrenched
E.g. HRA 1998 could be removed with a simple parliament majority - USSC can strike down legislation that infringes citizen’s rights
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015 stuck down the Defence of Marriage Act 1996 - The UKSC can only make a declaration of incompatibility with the HRA 1998
E.g. in R v Secretary of State for the Home Department the right to rent scheme was ruled incompatible with the HRA from the 14 article of the ECHR
3
Q
What are the key civil rights campaigns in the UK and US?
A
- The rights of LGBTQ people
- Women’s rights
- Abortion
- The rights of immigrants
- Race.
4
Q
How have the rights of LGBTQ people been affected in the UK and US?
A
- UK and US have legalised same-sex marriage
E.g. Marriage Act 2013 (UK)
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015 (US) - Both countries have seen legal battles over whether businesses have the right to refuse their services to LGBTQ people
E.g. in 2013 the UKSC ruled that owners of a bed-and-breakfast broke the law when they turned away a gay couple in 2013
E.g. in 2018 the USSC ruled in favour of a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple
5
Q
How have women’s rights been affected in the UK and US?
A
- Both countries have women’s suffrage
E.g. Representation of the People Act 1918 (UK)
E.g. Nineteenth Amendment (US) - UK has more measures to promote women’s rights than the US
E.g. UK women have the right to paid maternity leave, US women do not - UK women have better protection against discrimination
E.g. the Sex and Discrimination Act 1975 explicitly forbids sex discrimination
E.g. the US Equal Rights Amendment did not pass
6
Q
How have abortion rights been affected in the UK and US?
A
- Abortion is legal in both the UK and US
E.g. Roe v Wade 1973 (US)
E.g. Abortion Act 1967 (UK) - There are still debates on abortion in both countries
E.g. most Republicans are are pro-life, most democrats are pro-choice
E.g. Northern Ireland is illegal in Northern Ireland
(religion correlates with pro-life views)
7
Q
How have the rights of immigrants been affected in the UK and US?
A
- There is debate in both countries about immigrants
E.g. in the US there has been debate about what to do with illegal immigrants, but Trump’s policy of separating children of illegal immigrants from their parents led to public outcry and it was discontinued in 2018
E.g. in the UK there has been debate over whether immigrants should be able to access the NHS and council housing
8
Q
How have racial rights been affected in the UK and US?
A
- Segregation and discrimination have been challenged in both countries
E.g. high profile civil rights movements in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Brown v Board 1954 (US)
E.g. no equivalent iconic campaign in the UK as there was no policy of segregation to resist - Past racial discrimination has had a large impact on modern America than in the UK
E.g. in the US this has led to lasting-socio economic differences between whites and blacks which has led to affirmative action policies which do not exist in the UK - Pressure group campaigning
E.g. BLM in the US has highlighted unprovoked attacks on black people from police and other citizens
E.g. the BLM has been active in the UK but has not received the same publicity as the killings by police is so much smaller than in the US
9
Q
Have UK and US used similar methods in civil rights campaigns?
A
- Different, in the UK there are stricter limits on political spending during elections meaning pressure groups donate less and have a lower impact than in the US
E.g. US pressure groups such as the NRA have spend far more than UK pressure groups, in 2016 they spent $30million on Trump’s presidential campaign
E.g. UK are limited to £30k per constituency so despite trade unions donating £11million to Labour in 2014 it’s impact is less - Similar, religious groups in both countries have argued that anti-discrimination legislation can infringe their right to practise their religion
E.g. in the UK the Christian Institute supported the right of a Christian run bakery to Northern-Ireland not to bake a cake for a pro-gay marriage message on it in 2018
E.g. numerous US companies objected to the requirement of Obamacare to provide healthcare insurance for employees that include contraception - Different, US pressure groups are more focused on influencing the SC than UK pressure groups as the USSC can strike down legislation as unconstitutional
E.g. US pressure groups therefore fund challenges such as when the NAACP funded Brown v Board of Education 1954 or submit amicus curiae briefs such as when the Christian Coalition of America submitted a curiae brief against the legalisation of large scale betting
10
Q
Have UK and US campaigns had similar influence in civil rights campaigns?
A
?
11
Q
Have UK and US campaigns had similar effectiveness in civil rights campaigns?
A
- Different, campaigns for women’s rights have been more successful in the UK than in the US
E.g. the Sex and Discrimination Act 1975 explicitly forbids sex discrimination
E.g. the US Equal Rights Amendment did not pass
E.g. UK women have paid maternity leave, US women do not - Similar, pro-abortion campaigners have been successful in keeping abortion legal in both countries
E.g. there have no serious challenges to Roe v Wade or the Abortion Act 1967 (excluding Northern Ireland) - US campaigns for the 2nd Amendment have been stronger than those of the UK to protect their right to bear arms
E.g. the NRA have protected 2nd Amendment despite public pressure for gun control, they successfully lobbied Congress to reject any gun control legislation Obama proposed during his administration
E.g. UK citizens lost the right to bear arms after the Snowdrop Campaign in 1997.
12
Q
What is the structural approach to civil rights in the UK and US?
A
- The impact of an entrenched constitution, liberties are better protected than in the UK’s flexible constitution
E.g. 14th Amendment would need a 2/3 majority to remove, whereas the HRA 1998 would only need a simple Parliamentary majority - The relative importance of the USSC, it can strike down unconstitutional legislation
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015 struck down the Defence of Marriage Act 1996 - The sovereignty of Parliament in the UK, they decide what civil rights UK citizens enjoy
E.g. HRA 1998
13
Q
What is the rational approach to civil rights in the UK and US?
A
- Role of President G.W. Bush and PM Tony Blair in infringing civil liberties after 9/11 terrorist attacks
E.g. waterboarding and use of searches without a court order in the US
E.g. the use of control order in the UK - Role of individual leaders in campaigning for civil rights and keeping their cause on the political agenda
E.g. the civil rights movement in the US benefitted form the inspiration leadership of Martin Luther King in the 1960s, whereas post-war UK civil rights movements lacked a figure of this type - Individuals play a key role in civil rights campaigns in both countries
E.g. many campaigns centre on an infringement of an individuals rights and their determination to change the situation such as in Roe v Wade 1973 in the US and the Snowdrop Campaign 1997 in the UK.
14
Q
What is the cultural approach to civil rights in the UK and US?
A
- Both countries have a culture that values individual liberty and this is reflected in their constitutions
E.g. the Bill of Rights and the HRA 1998 - Culture of judicial activism and ‘legislating from the bench’ in the US
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015 legalising gay marriage - Religious groups are much more dominant in US culture, which explains why religious rights play a more prominent role in civil rights debates in the US than UK
E.g. the Christian Coalition of America is much more prominent, has influenced SC using amicus curiae briefs
15
Q
Does the UKSC have less power in protecting citizens’ rights?
A
- Yes, the USSC can strike down legislation that infringes citizen’s rights
E.g. Obergefell v Hodges 2015 stuck down the Defence of Marriage Act 1996
Yes, the UKSC can only make a declaration of incompatibility with the HRA 1998
E.g. in R v Secretary of State for the Home Department the right to rent scheme was ruled incompatible with the HRA from the 14 article of the ECHR
- No, there is judicial independence so both courts can make rulings against the government
E.g. UK justices have a tenure to 70 years old, ruled against the government in R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, declared that the government could not trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
E.g. US justices have a life tenure, ruled against the government in Brown v Board of Education 1954
- Yes, judicial activism can protect rights that
were not considered by the original framers
of the Constitution
E.g. Roe v Wade 1973
Yes, in the UK, Parliament is sovereign, so
judges cannot ‘legislate from the bench’.
