Exam 2 Flashcards
Somerset v. Stewart
- 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
Stewart’s arguments in Somerset v. Stewart
1: Somerset was lost property returned to its lawful owner.
2: Freeing slaves was not in the economic self-interest of England
Consequences of Somerset v. Stewart
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
Winny v. Whitesides
- 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
Whitesides’ arguments in Winny v. Whitesides
1: Winny was legally purchased as a slave
2: Slavery was legal according to the laws of MO
Consequences of Winny v. Whitesides
1: Winny was set free
2: Winny became a precedent along with Somerset in MO
Dred Scott’s arguments in Scott v. Sandford
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
Emerson’s and Sandford’s arguments in Scott v. Sandford
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
Holdings of the decision in Scott v. Sandford
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
National ramifications of Scott v. Sandford
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
The 13th amendment
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”
The 14th amendment
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”
The 15th amendment
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”
The major lacuna in the Constitution until the Reconstruction amendments
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
The Doctrine of white supremacy
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
Racial subordination
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
The “Black Codes”
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”
Five provisions to the “Black Codes”
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
“Slavery by another name”
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
Three types of rights
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
The Doctrine of a Test Case
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
Article III
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
United States v. Eichman
- 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
Griswold v. Connecticut
- 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
Dissents in Grisworld v. Connecticut
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
Eisenstadt v. Baird
- Building off of Griswold v. Connecticut, extended the right of privacy to unmarried couples. Successful test case
Roe v. Wade
- Further extended Griswold precedent to the right to terminate a pregnancy
Plessy v. Ferguson
- 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
Plessy’s arguments in Plessy v. Ferguson
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
Louisiana’s arguments in Plessy v. Ferguson
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
Ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson
The SCA was constitutional. States can separate the races, as long as the facilities are equal.
Judge Marshall Harlan’s dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson
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
Consequences of Plessy v. Ferguson
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
Three points in Michael James Klarman’s analysis of Plessy v. Ferguson
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
Jim Crow
Began 1870, ended 1965. A way of life for both blacks and whites in the South. Enforced by social pressures, intimidation, and violence.
Two aspects of Jim Crow
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
Social customs under Jim Crow
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
Lynchings
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
Four methods of disenfranchisement
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
Berea College v. Kentucky
- 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
Berea’s arguments in Berea v. Kentucky
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
Kentucky’s arguments in Berea v. Kentucky
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
The precedent of Berea v. Kentucky
It expanded the precedent of Plessy. States could now enforce segregation in private schools, not just public ones
Two factors that led to the founding of the NAACP
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
Three key concerns of the NAACP
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
Legal strategy of the NAACP
To use litigation to bring about legal reforms and social change
Two foundational premises of the NAACP’s legal strategy
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
Two goals of the NAACP’s legal strategy
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
Four steps to litigation as a social process
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
Civil liberties
The Constitutional safeguards that citizens have to be protected from excessive or arbitrary interference from the government
Civil rights
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
Three empirical realities that Margold based his recommendations on
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
Nathan Margold’s proposed legal strategy
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
Charles Hamilton Houston’s legal strategy
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
Test case from a different perspective
Rather than deliberately and publicly breaking the law, the NAACP was inviting the state to break the law
Law school strategy
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
Murray v. Pearson
- 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
Murray’s arguments in Murray v. Pearson
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
Maryland’s arguments in Murray v. Pearson
The state had fulfilled its legal obligations under Plessy by offering to forward Murray’s application to an out-of-state law school
Ruling of Murray v. Pearson
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
Three outcomes of Murray v. Pearson
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
Gaines v. Canada
- 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
Gaines’ arguments in Gaines v. Canada
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
Missouri’s arguments in Gaines v. Canda
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”
Missouri’s options after the decision of Gaines v. Canada
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
Two legal outcomes from Gaines
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
Sweatt v. Painter
- 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
Sweatt’s arguments in Sweatt v. Painter
His right to an equal treatment in an educational setting had been violated.
Texas’ reaction to the initial suit in Sweatt v. Painter
It founded the Texas State Law School for Negroes at Houston, which was an inferior school
Ruling of Sweatt v. Painter
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”
Four intangibles in Sweatt v. Painter
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
Outcome of Sweatt v. Painter
The Court found that replicating the quality of a grad school was impossible. Austin was integrated
Background of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
- 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
The crucial difference in Topeka from all the other cases
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
The key legal question of Brown v. Board of Education
Is segregation by race in public schools - though the schools are equal - ever constitutional?
Kansas’ argument in Brown v. Board of Education
Education is under the purview of the state
Three legal arguments from the NAACP in Brown v. Board of Education
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
The Doll Study
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
History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names
Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative wants to have lynching sites marked to force people to reckon with their hstiry
Lynchings as Racial Terrorism
Lynchings were public events and punishments for social transgressions
When Racism Was a Science
The Eugenics Record Office was meant to “breed better citizens”
Noam Chomsky on the Roots of American Racism
The American economy has always to some degree relied on forced labor
Texas Mother Teaches Company a Lesson on Accuracy
Coby Burren’s textbook referred to slaves as workers. TX textbooks are highly politicized
Video Shows Officer Flipping Student in South Carolina, Prompting Inquiry
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
Race and Discipline in Spotlight After South Carolina Drags Students
Discipline is arbitrary and disproportionately affects black students
Where Are Black Children Safe?
Black people are presumed guilty and expected to fall in line
Jury Selection Focuses on Race in Trial of Thabo Sefolosha, Atlanta Hawks Player
Only one-sixth of jurors on the case are black. The prosecutors struck those skeptical of police activity
How America Tolerates Racism in Jury Selection
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
Excluding Blacks From Juries
Peremptory challenges used to get around Batson v. KY. Blacks struck far more often than whites
Poll: On police conflict, whites and blacks have starkly different views
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
FBI chief again says Ferguson having chilling effect on law enforcement
According to Comey, videotaping the police has stopped them from enforcing the law
In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs
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
Confrontation With Black Partygoers Leaders to Gang Charges for White Group
Respect the Flag threatened a group of African-Americans at a birthday party. They have been charged with gang activity
Carson’s positions on poverty create tension with rags-to-riches life story
The system he decries was there to help him get out of poverty
Ebony’s cracked “Cosby Show” cover reveals fractures in show’s legacy
It used to be held up against negative stereotypes. Now, it cannot be
The secret surveillance of ‘suspicious blacks’ in one of the nation’s poshest neighborhoods
The app Operation GroupMe, supposedly meant to prevent crime, overwhelmingly reports black people
Georgetown social network accused of racial profiling is suspended
Racial profiling is a self-fulfilling prophecy
Fake Cover Letters Expose Discrimination Against Disabled
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
Biased Lending Evolves, and Blacks Face Trouble Getting Mortgages
Redlining is the practice in which banks do not lend to minority communities. Services deliberately placed outside of minority communities
Ending the Cycle of Racial Isolation
Mount Laurel proves that placing subsidized housing in affluent neighborhoods has good effects
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke
In the eyes of the joke-teller, black people are lesser. The jokes laugh at the country’s brutal past
‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ was built on a lie
Brown did not surrender. It is emblematic of the feeling against police brutality towards unarmed victims.
Two reasons Chief Justice Warren wanted a unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board
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
Two grounds for ruling in Brown v. Board
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
