Congress' Power Under the Post-Civil War Amendments - Oct. 5 Flashcards
What are the Reconstruction Amendments? (Q)
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution are known as the Reconstruction Amendments. The amendments were enacted following the Civil War and designed to guarantee the rights of former slaves. Specifically:
the Thirteenth amendment bans slavery,
the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the rights of citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law, and
the Fifteenth Amendment prohibits race-based voting discrimination.
For purposes of modern jurisprudence, the Fourteenth Amendment is the most significant.
What powers do the Reconstruction Amendments grant Congress? (Q)
The Reconstruction Amendments (the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments) give Congress express powers to enforce their substantive provisions by appropriate legislation. These provisions expand Congress’s powers beyond those enumerated in Article I and are commonly referred to as Congress’s enforcement powers.
Although other amendments since the Reconstruction Amendments have granted enforcement authority to Congress, the Thirteenth Amendment was the first to include this type of provision.
Which constitutional amendments grant Congress enforcement powers? (Q)
Constitutional amendments providing Congress with enforcement powers include:
The Thirteenth Amendment,
The Fourteenth Amendment,
The Fifteenth Amendment,
The Nineteenth Amendment
The Twenty-Third Amendment,
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, and
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Of these, Congress most often uses the enforcement powers granted to it by the Reconstruction Amendments. Enforcement powers enable Congress to enact appropriate legislation to give effect to the amendments’ substantive provisions.
For purposes of the Thirteenth Amendment, what are the badges and incidents of slavery? (Q)
Congress has defined the badges and incidents of slavery to include restraints on fundamental rights and racial discrimination regarding the right to sell, possess, and transfer property.
The Thirteenth Amendment bans slavery and involuntary servitude within the United States. The Enabling Clause of the Thirteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to enforce this provision by appropriate legislation. Congress may also define and prohibit the badges and incidents of slavery under this amendment.
Does Congress have the power to regulate private conduct under the Thirteenth Amendment? (Q)
Yes. Congress has the power to regulate private conduct under the Thirteenth Amendment. Unlike the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Thirteenth Amendment is not limited solely to state actions. Accordingly, Congress can regulate both private and state action to enforce the prohibition of slavery.
Courts have interpreted this power to include the ability to regulate conduct that involves racial discrimination generally, but not other forms of discrimination.
What rights does the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee? (Q)
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, is a citizen of the United States and of the state where he or she resides. The amendment provides that no state will:
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizenship,
deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or
deny anyone equal protection under the law.
The Fourteenth Amendment also vests Congress with enforcement authority to pass laws to remedy violations of those rights.
What enforcement powers does the Fourteenth Amendment grant to Congress? (Q)
The Enabling or Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to enforce the amendment’s provisions by appropriate legislation. However, Congress may not expand or limit the substantive rights that are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Rather, Congress may only remedy, rather than define, a violation of the amendment.
Under its power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, can Congress pass a law governing the actions of private individuals or businesses? (Q)
No. Under its power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress cannot pass a law governing the actions of private, non-governmental individuals or businesses. In contrast to the Thirteenth Amendment, which includes the power to regulate government or private actors, the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to state actors.
Thus, Congress can only use its power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment to govern state actions. However, there are situations in which a private actor’s action can be considered a state action and subject to the Fourteenth Amendment.
May Congress use its enforcement powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to regulate federal actors? (Q)
No. Congress may not regulate federal actors using its Fourteenth Amendment enforcement powers. The Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees apply only to state actors. This means that the amendment’s enforcement powers permit Congress to regulate state governments, not federal actors.
The federal government must still provide equal protection and due process under the law, but its actions in this regard are governed by the Fifth Amendment instead of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Can Congress use its power under the Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to enact laws to prevent future violations of the Fourteenth Amendment by state governments? (Q)
Yes. Congress can use its power under the Enforcement Clause (§ 5) of the Fourteenth Amendment to enact laws that prevent future or remedy past state violations of rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment Privileges and Immunities Clause. However, like laws passed to remedy past violations, any law passed to enforce a future violation of the Fourteenth Amendment must be both proportionate to and congruent with the rights violations that the law seeks to address.
May Congress define a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection guarantees? (Q)
No. Congress may not define a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection guarantees. Congress may only remedy, rather than define, a Fourteenth Amendment violation.
Congress may not expand or limit the substantive rights that are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. In contrast, Congress’s enforcement powers under the Thirteenth Amendment have been interpreted to include the ability to define and prohibit the badges and incidents of slavery.
Are there any limits to how Congress may fashion remedies for violations of the Fourteenth Amendment under its enforcement powers? (Q)
Yes. Congressional legislative remedies for violations of Fourteenth Amendment must use appropriate means plainly adapted to the end of enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment.
Legislative remedies that are congruent and proportional to the targeted violation are appropriate. In drafting statutes designed to remedy Fourteenth Amendment violations, Congress must be relatively precise in tailoring the means it employs to the injury it seeks to prevent.
Data showed that a large percentage of people with disabilities did not have access to state-government services. After looking at this data, Congress enacted a law requiring that all government buildings ensured reasonable access for persons with disabilities. The bill stated that Congress was using its enforcement authority under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A wheelchair user sued the state government because a state courthouse building lacked wheelchair access. The state government moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the federal statute requiring access was unconstitutional because it exceeded Congress’s Fourteenth Amendment § 5 enforcement authority.
Is the state government correct? (Q)
No. The state government is incorrect. The statute is within Congress’s § 5 enforcement authority. Under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress can pass laws to protect the rights in § 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment if the law is congruent with and proportional to the right being enforced.
Here, the right being enforced is courthouse access. Access to the public courts is a necessary part of due process, which is one of the rights protected by § 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Data showed that this right was being violated. Thus, a law to protect and enforce this right is an appropriate area for legislation under Congress’s § 5 enforcement power. Further, the law only requires that the government provide reasonable access. This response is congruent with and proportional to the goal of providing public-court access for everyone. Thus, the state government is incorrect.
What rights does the Fifteenth Amendment guarantee? (Q)
