CH 19: Civil Rights

1. CH 19: Civil Rights Ms. Bittman’s AP American Government and Politics

2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • Establish separate but equal as acceptable

3. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Struck down Plessy. • “Separate but equal” has no place in education. • Unanimous decision • Was supposed to be implemented “with all due speed” but 100 Southern Congressmen resist, create Southern Manifesto in 1956. • Senate Judiciary Committee and House Rules Committee held up civil rights legislation.

4. De jure and de facto segregation differ. • De jure is set by law, eg. Jim Crow laws. • De facto is the result of facts, eg. local schools are segregated because neighborhoods are segregated. • Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. To violate Constitution, must have: • Intent to segregate • All-white or all-black schools create presumption of intent. • Remedy may include quotas. • Freeman v. Pitts: Schools not responsible if live apart.

5. Nonviolent civil disobedience critical to civil rights movement. • Montgomery bus boycott (1955-56): Led by MLK after Rosa Parks • Freedom riders (1950’s) • Lunch counter sit-ins (1950’s)

6. March on Washington • 1963 • Dr. King delivers “I Have a Dream” speech at Lincoln Memorial. • Four summers of riots • 1964-68

7. Congress stonewalls, but then things change. • Why the change? • Young adults in country are more liberal. • Civil rights violations become more visible to the public. • JFK dies. 1964 returns LBJ to presidency and Democrats to Congress (but remember some Southern Democrats were still very conservative).

8. Legislation • Civil Rights Act of 1964: accommodations • Voting Rights Act of 1965: voter registration • Civil Rights Act/Housing Act of 1968: fair housing

9. 1988: Congress says no federal dollars to institutions that discriminate.

10. Standards for considering state legislation: • If the law is not about a fundamental right or a suspect classification, then apply • Rational basis: Did state have a rational basis for passing the law? • Where fundamental right or suspect classification (determined to violate “equal protection”) is at issue, Court will apply Strict Scrutiny. • State needs compelling government interest. • State must use least restrictive means. • Gender discrimination is in between, quasi suspect.

11. Sexual harassment • If employer requires favors for promotion or employment, quid pro quo, then strictly liable. • Employers are liable if they “negligently” permit a “hostile work environment.”

12. Abortion • Griswold v. Connecticut establishes right to privacy, penumbra of rights in BOR. • Roe v. Wade recognizes state interests, especially in third trimester and in second. • Casey v. Planned Parenthood: Uses viability standard. Struck spousal notice, but upheld parental notice and 24 hour waiting period. • State must make exceptions for life and health of the mother.

13. Affirmative Action • Gratz v. Bollinger: No preferential status on race alone. Separate charts would be bad. • Grutter v. Bollinger: Diversity is a factor that can be positively considered in assembling classes, especially for graduate programs in law. Portfolio is good. • Reverse discrimination: Majority group disadvantaged. • Equality of opportunity: Equal access to chances, traditional view of family and opportunities. • Congress in Civil Rights Act of 1991: • Quotas subject to strict scrutiny • Only to correct past discrimination • Most show more than statistics • Defer to federal quotas • Voluntary (contractual) more likely to be supported • Not good for lay offs • (What is compensatory action? When appropriate?

14. GLBT • Still emerging • Many fights on state constitution level. • Court has upheld rights of parade organizers to determine own message.