Exam 2

Question 1

Somerset v. Stewart

Answer 1

1772. James Somerset, a slave, purchased by Stewart. He was taken to England, which was free. Somerset alleged illegal imprisonment. Lord Justice Mansfield ruled in Somerset’s favor. Argued that “the bonds of slavery, once severed, cannot be reattached.” Once free, always free

Question 2

Stewart’s arguments in Somerset v. Stewart

Answer 2

1: Somerset was lost property returned to its lawful owner.
2: Freeing slaves was not in the economic self-interest of England

Question 3

Consequences of Somerset v. Stewart

Answer 3

1: Somerset was set free
2: Somerset became binding precedent for future cases involving slaves in England and the American colony. It was applied in Winny v. Whitesides

Question 4

Winny v. Whitesides

Answer 4

1824. Winny, a slave, moved from SC to IL Territory, which was free. Then moved to MO, which was not. She sued for illegal imprisonment using a MO law that allowed “poor people” to sue for freedom. MOSC ruled in her favor. Applied Somerset. “A slaveowner who takes his slave[s to a free state or territory, and the length of his stay indicates the intention to make the place his permanent resident, then his slave[s] must go free.” Three years required for permanent residence

Question 5

Whitesides’ arguments in Winny v. Whitesides

Answer 5

1: Winny was legally purchased as a slave
2: Slavery was legal according to the laws of MO

Question 6

Consequences of Winny v. Whitesides

Answer 6

1: Winny was set free
2: Winny became a precedent along with Somerset in MO

Question 7

Dred Scott’s arguments in Scott v. Sandford

Answer 7

1: In light of Somerset and Winny, his residence in a free state and territory demanded his emancipation.
2: He was denied a fair trial because binding precedents were not followed in the appeal to the MOSC

Question 8

Emerson’s and Sandford’s arguments in Scott v. Sandford

Answer 8

1: According to MO law, Scott is property and a property owner should not be unjustly deprived of property
2: Scott was not a citizen and thus had no legal right to sue

Question 9

Holdings of the decision in Scott v. Sandford

Answer 9

1: The Founding Fathers never intended for African-Americans to be citizens (“colored people have no rights which white people are bound to respect”
2: Scott was legally a slave according to MO law and must remain a slave, which legally endorsed slavery
3: The MO compromise was overruled because it deprived a property owner of property without due process, violating the fifth amendment

Question 10

National ramifications of Scott v. Sandford

Answer 10

1: The decision strengthened Northern opposition to slavery
2: The Democratic Party was divided among geographic lines
3: The decision emboldened Southern supporters of slavery to make even bolder demands
4: It bolstered the nascent Republican party

Question 11

The 13th amendment

Answer 11

Ratified 12/6/1865. Section 1: “Neither slavery nor indentured servitude, except when one is duly convicted of a crime, shall exist in the United States”

Question 12

The 14th amendment

Answer 12

Ratified 7/6/1868. Section 1a: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and the state in which they reside.” Section 1b: “No state shall enact or enforce any law that abridges the privileges and immunities of its citizens.” Section 1c: “No state shall seek to deprive a citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Section 1d: “No state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”

Question 13

The 15th amendment

Answer 13

Ratified 2/3/1870. Section 1: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

Question 14

The major lacuna in the Constitution until the Reconstruction amendments

Answer 14

The Bill of Rights only bound or restricted the power of the federal government, not the states. Constitutional protections only applied to the federal government. Most disputes between a citizen and the government are between the citizen and his state, not the federal government

Question 15

The Doctrine of white supremacy

Answer 15

It is both an ideology and a system of organization in a society. It is the belief that whites are inherently superior in all aspects of life to all other groups, particularly African-Americans, and therefore should be dominant in any society

Question 16

Racial subordination

Answer 16

The term that encompasses the discrimination formed in racism and the relations of power that affect racial matters. The expression of power based upon race when the dominant group places another group in a subordinate or inferior position based upon its race

Question 17

The “Black Codes”

Answer 17

Laws passed by Southern states in 1866 and 1867 to reverse the outcome of the Civil War, to maintain the system of white supremacy, and to deny basic rights to black people as a form of “social control”

Question 18

Five provisions to the “Black Codes”

Answer 18

1: Blacks were denied the right to own property, to enter into legal contracts, and to testify in court.
2: Vagrancy laws, which made it illegal to be unemployed, were selectively applied on blacks
3: “Convict leasing”: blacks were entrapped, convicted, and sentenced to prison. Then, they were leased to white businessmen and plantation owners
4: Debt peonage: blacks were convicted of bogus charges and sentenced to pay a fine, which they could not do. White people paid the fine and then the convicted person was obliged to pay off the debt by working for the white business owner.
5: Miscegenation. Racial segregation was enforced in the realm of marriage by criminalizing interracial marriage and sexual relations

Question 19

“Slavery by another name”

Answer 19

Laws were selectively applied to black people. Convict leasing was hugely profitable. It cemented the perceived relation between crime and race. It was not in the economic interests of slaveowners to kill their slaves, but they could do it to convicts

Question 20

Three types of rights

Answer 20

1: Civil rights, which include the rights to own property, to enter into legal contracts, to sue in court, and to testify
2: Political rights, which include the rights to vote, to run for office, and to serve on a jury
3: Social rights, which include the right to marry a person of one’s choice, to have an education, to choose one’s occupation, and to travel

Question 21

The Doctrine of a Test Case

Answer 21

A person deliberately and publicly breaks a law in order to provoke a prosecution.The goal is to change the law and have the contested law struck down by a judicial opinion, changing it for future persons in similar circumstances, Used by the NAACP

Question 22

Article III

Answer 22

The courts can only rule on “actual cases and controversies.” Requires a person to have standing to sue. and prevents a suit based on a philosophical stance

Question 23

United States v. Eichman

Answer 23

1990. In 1989, TX v. Johnson considered destroying or damaging the flag to be protected by freedom of speech. Congress passed the FPA. Eichman believed the FPA was a violation of his first amendment rights. Burnt the flag to be charged. 5-4 decision held that the government cannot ban a form of speech because the government finds the speech disagreeable or offensive. Successful test case

Question 24

Griswold v. Connecticut

Answer 24

1965. An 1879 CT law prohibited use of contraceptives by married couples. Griswold and Bolinger publicly distributed free contraceptives. They argued that the law violated section 1 of the fourteenth amendment which states that a state should not enforce any law that abridges the privileges and immunities of its citizens. Supreme Court agreed, rooting its opinion in the Liberty Provision of the 14th amendment and recognizing a marital right to privacy. Successful test case

Question 25

Dissents in Grisworld v. Connecticut

Answer 25

Black: no mention of the word privacy in the Constitution Steward: the law was "uncommonly silly," but passed by the CT legislature, who should be the ones to repeal it

Question 26

Eisenstadt v. Baird

Answer 26

1972. Building off of Griswold v. Connecticut, extended the right of privacy to unmarried couples. Successful test case

Question 27

Roe v. Wade

Answer 27

1973. Further extended Griswold precedent to the right to terminate a pregnancy

Question 28

Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 28

1896. Very unsuccessful test case. Committee of Citizens tried to challenge the SCA, which segregated whites and blacks in transportation. Homer Plessy looked white, but LA considered him black. Decided in Louisiana's favor

Question 29

Plessy's arguments in Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 29

1: The SCA was a clear violation of the EPC of the 14th amendment because it treated people differently solely on the basis of race 2: Because the SCA forced blacks to travel separately, it relegated them to an inferior status in transportation and created "a new form of slavery," thus violating the 13th amendment

Question 30

Louisiana's arguments in Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 30

1: the Separate Car Act was only a "badge of inferiority" if blacks chose to construe it as such 2: The SCA was not a violation of the EPC because it prohibits exclusion, not classification or separation, based on race

Question 31

Ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 31

The SCA was constitutional. States can separate the races, as long as the facilities are equal.

Question 32

Judge Marshall Harlan's dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 32

The SCA was a clear violation of the EPC because it treated people differently based on race. The law ought to be colorblind. The US is moving towards two societies: one white and one black, separate and unequal

Question 33

Consequences of Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 33

1: Public facilities were always separate de jure, but de facto virtually never equal 2: The decision led to legalized segregation in all aspects of Southern life, a tremendous boon to Jim Crow

Question 34

Three points in Michael James Klarman's analysis of Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 34

1: Plessy did not create the oppressive conditions under which blacks lived in the South, rather, it was a reflection of the oppressing conditions that already existed 2: Plessy gave legal legitimacy to segregation and thus delayed its demise 3: The main source of oppression for Southern blacks was disenfranchisement. Without the ability to register or vote, blacks were denied a voice in the political sphere and thus had no political power

Question 35

Jim Crow

Answer 35

Began 1870, ended 1965. A way of life for both blacks and whites in the South. Enforced by social pressures, intimidation, and violence.

Question 36

Two aspects of Jim Crow

Answer 36

1: De jure, state and local laws mandated segregation in all aspects of Southern life. 2: De facto, it contained a set of social customs and normative behaviors of how blacks were expected to interact with whites

Question 37

Social customs under Jim Crow

Answer 37

Blacks were to be respectful and deferential to whites at all times. A black man never shook hands with a white man. Black men had to be extremely prudent and cautious around white women. Whites and blacks were not to eat together. Blacks were to avoid PDAs. Blacks were introduced to whites, but not vice versa. Whites never used customary titles of respect when addressing blacks. When riding, blacks always sat in the backseat or in the back of a truck. Whites had the legal right of way at all intersections

Question 38

Lynchings

Answer 38

Extrajudicial acts of violence that reinforced white supremacy. Came without trial or conviction. Performed by vigilante groups with the informal cooperation of officials. Not about justice, but about terrorizing people based on race

Question 39

Four methods of disenfranchisement

Answer 39

1: "Grandfather clauses": if one's father or grandfather was eligible to vote in 1867, then that person could also vote 2: Literacy tests: a person would have to read a part of the Constitution and then explain its meaning to the satisfaction of local officials 3: Poll taxes, which were usually waived for poor whites 4: Excessive voting requirements, which included a large time of residency, information African-Americans did not have, frequent re-registration requirements, and infrequent hours of registration for African-Americans

Question 40

Berea College v. Kentucky

Answer 40

1908. Berea was the only coed and integrated college in the South. KY passed the Day Law, making it illegal for any person, group or institution to teach whites and blacks together in a classroom, building, or campus. Supreme Court ruled in favor of KY, holding that the law was a reasonable exercise in state power

Question 41

Berea's arguments in Berea v. Kentucky

Answer 41

1: The Day Law was an unreasonable intrusion of the state into the affairs of a private college 2: The law unreasonably interfered with the mission of the college

Question 42

Kentucky's arguments in Berea v. Kentucky

Answer 42

1: Berea had a state charter, so the school should heed the "advice and recommendations" of the state 2: If Berea wished to retain its state charter, its must fully comply with state laws

Question 43

The precedent of Berea v. Kentucky

Answer 43

It expanded the precedent of Plessy. States could now enforce segregation in private schools, not just public ones

Question 44

Two factors that led to the founding of the NAACP

Answer 44

1: With Berea, many now believed that segregation was increasing and spreading, rather than declining 2: Many believed that Plessy and the codification and growth and Jim Crow now imposed "another form of slavery" on African-Americans

Question 45

Three key concerns of the NAACP

Answer 45

1: The disenfranchisement of blacks in the South: the concerns of blacks would never be seen without political power 2: The disparity in public funding of segregated white and black facilities 3: The increasing curtailment of blacks in general

Question 46

Legal strategy of the NAACP

Answer 46

To use litigation to bring about legal reforms and social change

Question 47

Two foundational premises of the NAACP's legal strategy

Answer 47

1: Just as the American legal system now works against the interests of African-Americans, it can be made to work eventually in their favor 2: When laws concerning the rights of a person or group are change, permanent changes are made

Question 48

Two goals of the NAACP's legal strategy

Answer 48

1: To undermine the legal system of white supremacy linked to Plessy 2: In order to undermine the legal system of white supremacy linked to Plessy, they had to successfully challenge the legal underpinnings of Plessy

Question 49

Four steps to litigation as a social process

Answer 49

1: A person comes to believe that their rights have been violated due to their race and begins to think that the courts might provide a remedy 2: The person meets with a lawyer who formulates their grievances into language the court can understand by filing a lawsuit 3: The court reaches a decision 4: The verdict is implement, evaded, or a legislative alternative is sought

Question 50

Civil liberties

Answer 50

The Constitutional safeguards that citizens have to be protected from excessive or arbitrary interference from the government

Question 51

Civil rights

Answer 51

The rights of a person to be free from unequal treatment based on certain legally characteristics in the areas of employment, housing, voting, and education

Question 52

Three empirical realities that Margold based his recommendations on

Answer 52

1: Under Plessy, black and white schools are to be equal (de jure) 2: The expenditures for black and white schools were unequal (de facto) 3: No state remedy is realistically available because school segregation is deliberate, systematic, and state-sanctioned

Question 53

Nathan Margold's proposed legal strategy

Answer 53

That the NAACP urge black parents to sue on behalf of their children, contending that the disparities in public funding of schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment and is thus illegal

Question 54

Charles Hamilton Houston's legal strategy

Answer 54

He argued that the NAACP must attack the states where they are most vulnerable legally: when states do not provide state professional schools to qualified minority applicants

Question 55

Test case from a different perspective

Answer 55

Rather than deliberately and publicly breaking the law, the NAACP was inviting the state to break the law

Question 56

Law school strategy

Answer 56

The NAACP encouraged African-Americans, all with superb academic credentials, who wanted to study law to apply to the state law school of their state. The expectation was that the applicants would be rejected on account of their race. Armed with this rejection, the NAACP would file a lawsuit on behalf of the rejected, but extremely qualified, applicant, asserting that his rejection based solely on his race was a clear violation of his rights under the EPC and thus is illegal

Question 57

Murray v. Pearson

Answer 57

1936. Murray was a black student with excellent academic credentials. Applied to UMD Law School. Rejection letter said that "the UMD Law School does not admit Negro students." Offered to to forward his application to an integrated school out-of-state. Maryland Supreme Court found for Murray

Question 58

Murray's arguments in Murray v. Pearson

Answer 58

1: Under Plessy, state education opportunities must be equal 2: Since state laws vary from state to state, a MD resident who studies law out-of-state is at a distinct disadvantage in sitting for the MD Bar Exam

Question 59

Maryland's arguments in Murray v. Pearson

Answer 59

The state had fulfilled its legal obligations under Plessy by offering to forward Murray's application to an out-of-state law school

Question 60

Ruling of Murray v. Pearson

Answer 60

6-0 in favor of Murray. 1: Public facilities, paid for by tax dollars, must be equal in access to all 2: If the state only offers one state or public law school, as MD did, it must be opened to all qualified applicants, regardless of race

Question 61

Three outcomes of Murray v. Pearson

Answer 61

1: Murray was admitted and the UMD Law School became integrated 2: It was a narrow ruling: not all public schools in Maryland were integrated 3: Murray did not become a national precedent that was binding on all state law schools

Question 62

Gaines v. Canada

Answer 62

1938. Gaines was an African-American with a stellar academic record. Applied to the UMO Law School. Rejected because of his race. The school offered to pay for his tuition at an integrated, out-of-state law school. Supreme Court ruled 6-2 in Gaines' favor. Applied the precedent of Murray: if a state only offers one public law school, it must be opened to all qualified applicants, regardless of race, in order to satisfy the requirements of equal protection

Question 63

Gaines' arguments in Gaines v. Canada

Answer 63

1: Under Plessy, state education opportunities must be equal 2: Since state laws vary from state to state, a MO resident who studies law out-of-state is at a distinct disadvantage in sitting for the MO Bar Exam

Question 64

Missouri's arguments in Gaines v. Canda

Answer 64

1: It had satisfied its legal obligations under Plessy by offering to pay his tuition at an out-of-state school 2: Admission rules should not be changed because this was a "unique situation ... as very, very few African-Americans apply to MO Law School"

Question 65

Missouri's options after the decision of Gaines v. Canada

Answer 65

1: MO Law School could enroll Gaines and thus integrate. Mo chose this one 2: MO could found another state law school would be difficult to make equal

Question 66

Two legal outcomes from Gaines

Answer 66

1: If a state only offers one type of professional school, it must be open to all qualified applicants 2: The Supreme Court reviewed for the first time the feasibility of the precedent of Plessy and recognized for the first time the impossibility of having a separate school system by race that was truly equal

Question 67

Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 67

1950. Laid the groundwork for Brown. Sweatt had superior academic credentials and applied to the UTX at Austin Law School, where he was rejected on account of his race. TX tried to establish a separate law school for African-Americans, which was inferior. Supreme Court rules 9-0 in favor of Sweatt

Question 68

Sweatt's arguments in Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 68

His right to an equal treatment in an educational setting had been violated.

Question 69

Texas' reaction to the initial suit in Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 69

It founded the Texas State Law School for Negroes at Houston, which was an inferior school

Question 70

Ruling of Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 70

Houston school was "grossly unequal to Austin 1: Empirical/quantitative data showed that Austin was clearly the better school 2: "Intangible factors" were part of the "equation of equality"

Question 71

Four intangibles in Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 71

1: Students in Houston are isolated from from the center of the TX legal community 2: Students at Houston are denied the opportunity to forge relations with future members of the TX legal community 3: Students at Houston are denied extensive alumni network of Austin 4: Students at Houston are denied the "prestige" of studying law at Austin

Question 72

Outcome of Sweatt v. Painter

Answer 72

The Court found that replicating the quality of a grad school was impossible. Austin was integrated

Question 73

Background of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Answer 73

1954. Local NAACP chapters urged black parents to seek to register their children in the neighborhood schools, if the nearest school was whites-only. When the child was denied registration and directed to the nearest segregated school, then the parents can file a lawsuit, represented by the NAACP, charging that their child's right to equal treatment in education under the EPC has been violated by the local board of education

Question 74

The crucial difference in Topeka from all the other cases

Answer 74

Black and white schools there were judged to be "substantially equal" in facilities, equipment, per pupil expenditures, and teacher pay. Gross inequalities existed in the other schools

Question 75

The key legal question of Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 75

Is segregation by race in public schools - though the schools are equal - ever constitutional?

Question 76

Kansas' argument in Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 76

Education is under the purview of the state

Question 77

Three legal arguments from the NAACP in Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 77

1: Segregation by race is a clear violation of the EPC 2: Under Plessy, schools were separate but rarely equal 3: They introduce intangible factors, especially the work of the Clarks

Question 78

The Doll Study

Answer 78

Kenneth and Mamie Clark gave four dolls to black children in segregated schools. They preferred the white dolls. Black children internalize the prevailing racism of society (inferiority) and many develop a safe-hatred based upon race

Question 79

History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names

Answer 79

Brian Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative wants to have lynching sites marked to force people to reckon with their hstiry

Question 80

Lynchings as Racial Terrorism

Answer 80

Lynchings were public events and punishments for social transgressions

Question 81

When Racism Was a Science

Answer 81

The Eugenics Record Office was meant to "breed better citizens"

Question 82

Noam Chomsky on the Roots of American Racism

Answer 82

The American economy has always to some degree relied on forced labor

Question 83

Texas Mother Teaches Company a Lesson on Accuracy

Answer 83

Coby Burren's textbook referred to slaves as workers. TX textbooks are highly politicized

Question 84

Video Shows Officer Flipping Student in South Carolina, Prompting Inquiry

Answer 84

White officer Ben Fields flipped an African-American student sitting at her disk. He has been accused of unfairly and recklessly targeting African-Americans with accusations of gang membership and activity

Question 85

Race and Discipline in Spotlight After South Carolina Drags Students

Answer 85

Discipline is arbitrary and disproportionately affects black students

Question 86

Where Are Black Children Safe?

Answer 86

Black people are presumed guilty and expected to fall in line

Question 87

Jury Selection Focuses on Race in Trial of Thabo Sefolosha, Atlanta Hawks Player

Answer 87

Only one-sixth of jurors on the case are black. The prosecutors struck those skeptical of police activity

Question 88

How America Tolerates Racism in Jury Selection

Answer 88

Foster v. Chatnam is challenging the deliberate exclusion of African-American jurors. Already done so in Batson v. KY. Blacks struck far more often than whites, often for inconsistent "race-neutral" reasons

Question 89

Excluding Blacks From Juries

Answer 89

Peremptory challenges used to get around Batson v. KY. Blacks struck far more often than whites

Question 90

Poll: On police conflict, whites and blacks have starkly different views

Answer 90

Blacks are more likely to view the police as responsible for violent encounters with the public. Whites are more likely to blame the person the police are apprehending

Question 91

FBI chief again says Ferguson having chilling effect on law enforcement

Answer 91

According to Comey, videotaping the police has stopped them from enforcing the law

Question 92

In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs

Answer 92

When it was focused on crack in poor, black communities, the public demanded zero-tolerance. Now, in white, middle-class communities, they want treatment, not jail time

Question 93

Confrontation With Black Partygoers Leaders to Gang Charges for White Group

Answer 93

Respect the Flag threatened a group of African-Americans at a birthday party. They have been charged with gang activity

Question 94

Carson's positions on poverty create tension with rags-to-riches life story

Answer 94

The system he decries was there to help him get out of poverty

Question 95

Ebony's cracked "Cosby Show" cover reveals fractures in show's legacy

Answer 95

It used to be held up against negative stereotypes. Now, it cannot be

Question 96

The secret surveillance of 'suspicious blacks' in one of the nation's poshest neighborhoods

Answer 96

The app Operation GroupMe, supposedly meant to prevent crime, overwhelmingly reports black people

Question 97

Georgetown social network accused of racial profiling is suspended

Answer 97

Racial profiling is a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 98

Fake Cover Letters Expose Discrimination Against Disabled

Answer 98

Employers 26% less interested in disabled employees than in able-bodied ones and more interested in inexperienced disabled employees. Small businesses more likely to discriminate

Question 99

Biased Lending Evolves, and Blacks Face Trouble Getting Mortgages

Answer 99

Redlining is the practice in which banks do not lend to minority communities. Services deliberately placed outside of minority communities

Question 100

Ending the Cycle of Racial Isolation

Answer 100

Mount Laurel proves that placing subsidized housing in affluent neighborhoods has good effects

Question 101

The Pain of the Watermelon Joke

Answer 101

In the eyes of the joke-teller, black people are lesser. The jokes laugh at the country's brutal past

Question 102

'Hands up, don't shoot' was built on a lie

Answer 102

Brown did not surrender. It is emblematic of the feeling against police brutality towards unarmed victims.

Question 103

Two reasons Chief Justice Warren wanted a unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board

Answer 103

1: A victory for the NAACP in Brown would be received angrily and perhaps violently in the South. The Court wanted to present a united front 2: A dissenting opinion would be seized upon by segregation advocates to give legal legitimacy to the fight to prevent integration

Question 104

Two grounds for ruling in Brown v. Board

Answer 104

1: Segregation by race in public schools is a blatant violation of the EPC 2: The Court overruled Plessy as a precedent because it was doing significant harm to the country