American Government

1. American Government Unit 3

2. Lesson 19pages 129-134 How has the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment changed the Constitution? • Objective: Define equal protection under the laws. Explain why neither state governments nor the national government can deprive people of equal protection of the laws. Explain the “separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation and why the Supreme Court abandoned it in Brown v. Board of Education.

3. What is meant by “equal protection of the laws”? • Equal Protection: fair treatment for all persons, regardless of sex, race, national origin, religion or political views. • Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal” • Forbids arbitrary or irrelevant barriers to the full enjoyment of rights by all persons.

4. What is meant by “equal protection of the laws”? • Strauder v. West Virginia 1880 • African-American man convicted by an all white jury. • WV law expressly limited jury service to “all white male persons”. • Supreme Court declared this law unconstitutional. • Equality of Opportunity: • laws must not unfairly disadvantage anyone in the opportunity to seek a variety of social goods. • i.e. education, employment, housing and political rights. • **Does not mean equality of conditions- possessions, living standards, medical care & working conditions.

5. What was the “separate but equal” doctrine, and what was its effect? • After Reconstruction: • South had Jim Crow laws • Limited the rights and freedoms of African-Americans. • By the end of the 19th century there was complete racial segregation throughout the south.

6. What was the “separate but equal” doctrine, and what was its effect? • Plessy v. Ferguson- 1896: • Blacks and whites riding in “separate but equal” railroad cars (facilities) was constitutional. Vote 7 to 1. • Justice John Marshall Harlem- strong dissent- said that the Constitution was color blind. • State sponsored segregation lasted for 60 years after Plessy v. Ferguson. Affected Asians and African- Americans.

7. Why did the Supreme Court abandon “separate but equal” in Brown v. Board of Education? • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909. • 1st 25 years they fought racial mob violence and lynching. • Then, turned to ending segregation in education. • Legal team included future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

8. Why did the supreme court abandon “separate but equal” in brown v. Board of education? • 1952- NAACP challenged “separate but equal” on separate schools for black and white children. • Lead case – Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS. • 1954- Supreme Court: separate schools were “inherently unequal” • Unanimous decision. • Decision was harder to enforce than anticipated.

9. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? • Important question: Does a classification that results in different treatment violate the equal protection clause? Three Levels of Classification: • Strict Scrutiny • Intermediate Scrutiny • Rational Basis

10. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? • Strict Scrutiny: • Laws based on race, national origin, religion or states as a legal alien are subject to the most rigorous judicial scrutiny. • Judges presume these laws violate equal protection clause. That government must persuade the Court that there is an extremely strong reason, called a “compelling state interest” to have imposed this law.

11. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? Example of Strict Scrutiny: Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. Government convinced the Supreme Court that there was a compelling state interest in this racial classification. Loving v. Virginia (1967)- Court held that the VA did not have a compelling state interest to prohibit interracial marriage.

12. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? 2. Intermediate Scrutiny • Classifications based on gender and illegitimacy. • Government has to prove that the laws are “substantially relative to an important government purpose”.

13. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? Examples of Intermediate Scrutiny: Craig v. Brown (1976)- Oklahoma allowed women to buy 3.2% beer at the age of 18. Men had to wait until 21. Court said it did not substantially relate to the state’s interest in promoting traffic safety. Rostker v. Goldberg (1981)- federal statute excluding women from military draft on the grounds that they were barred from combat. Court sides with the law.

14. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? 3. Rational Basis • Deals with all other laws that create classifications: Wealth, disability, age – laws are presumed to be constitutional. • The person or group challenging the law has to prove that the law is not “rational or reasonable”.

15. How has the supreme court’s interpretation of the equal protection clause changed since Brown? Example of Rations Basis: Very rare for the Supreme Court to rule that a law is not rational. Stanton v. Stanton- Utah statute required divorced fathers to support their daughters until 18 years of age, but their sons until 21 years of age. Supreme Court ruled against the law.

16. What controversies remain in the arena of equal protection of the laws? • Whether laws that give preference to certain groups that historically have been denied equal opportunities (affirmative action) are impermissible. (reverse discrimination). • Whether intermediate scrutiny is the appropriate level for analyzing classifications based on gender. • Whether groups such as the mentally handicapped, children of illegal aliens, and homosexuals should be treated as “discrete and insular minorities” for purposes of equal protection analysis because of prejudice against them.

17. Finishing up! No homework. WORK ON PROJECTS!