Chapter 5 Civil Rights PDF

Chapter 5: Civil Rights I. Introduction A) Civil Rights issue 1) a group is denied access to facilities, opportunities, services that are available to other groups 2) Issue is whether the differences in treatments of other groups are reasonable ◦ Some differences are in fact considered reason...

Chapter 5: Civil Rights I. Introduction A) Civil Rights issue 1) a group is denied access to facilities, opportunities, services that are available to other groups 2) Issue is whether the differences in treatments of other groups are reasonable ◦ Some differences are in fact considered reasonable, such as income taxes (groups of people in larger income brackets pay more taxes than those of lower tax brackets); it has been determined that those in lower tax brackets because of a desire to make sure the people can take care of themselves (people in different tax brackets are treated differently under the law) ◦ Some differences are not considered reasonable, for example: putting classifications on people and treating them differently for race or ethnicity is considered suspect (for courts: suspect classifications such as race or ethnicity will be subject to especially strict scrutiny/investigation) II. The African American Predicament (the perceived cause?? were not widely shared (interest group politics only)) A) African Americans were at a disadvantage to make reforms because they were disadvantaged in interest group politics; since unable to vote in many areas, how were they able to bring reform; since they lacked resources for effective political organizing, how could they bring change? B) Majoritarian politics worked against them because they were not able to build broad coalitions with other groups because there was no significant public support for their civil rights movement ◦ Lynchings did shock some white Americans, but very little was done about it ◦ General white public opinion was opposed to African American rights ◦ Jim Crow C) Progress depended on ◦ Finding white allies or looking across the races by publicizing the denial to African Americans or widely essential or necessary liberties (at first unsuccessful) ◦ Shifted efforts of legal and political struggles from Congress (which was unsuccessful) to federal courts D) Civil Rights movement did try to do both, but failed and shifted efforts ^^ III. The Campaign in the Courts A) Ambiguities in the 14th Amendment are brought before the Supreme Court (equal protections of the laws - 14th Amendment; granted citizenship to former slaves) Broad Interpretation - constitution is colorblind, therefore no differential treatment of the races is acceptable Narrow Interpretation - the constitution grants equal, legal rights but no equal social rights, however African American people can be treated differently (same things, not in the same place). In “Plessy v. Ferguson” (1896) B) Separate but Equal NAACP campaign relied on the courts, as they not getting anywhere with the politicians and could not get a coalition of interest groups, and court litigation did not require building broad coalitions so the organization could remain nonpartisan to political parties NAACP strategy was to have the Supreme Court rule separate schools (even if facilities are equal) are inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional, wanted the broad interpretation as the separate part is the thing making it unequal. The Supreme Court ruled… C) Can separate schools be equal? In “Brown v. B.O.E” (1954) Supreme Court declared in unanimous vote that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson ◦ Unanimous opinion in Brown v. B.O.E overturned the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson ‣ The court, using the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, said all citizens must be treated the same, as the constitution is color blind. Treating African Americans different from white Americans would be a violation of the constitution  ◦ How would decision made be implemented? ‣ Brown v. B.O.E was a class action law suit. It was a class action lawsuit since it applies to all similarly situated African American children in the entire nation. Any African American child that was prohibited from attending a school because of the color of their skin is apart of this lawsuit ‣ The court said this decision must be carried out with “all deliberate speed” which means immediately. All the schools have to desegregate since any African American child in the district of a school would be going there. National guard was sent to enforce this decision Rationale for the Court’s decision - Court said ◦ Segregation is detrimental (harm is being caused by segregation). It creates a sense of inferiority in African American students ◦ The court relied on social science because the 14th amendment was not necessarily intended to abolish segregated schools. The court sought an unanimous opinion (9-0 decision). The court couldn’t rely just on the wording of the 14th Amendment so they had to talk about how segregation was detrimental. They then brought back to the 14th amendment which said all citizens had to be treated the same D) Desegregation (getting rid of laws to stop segregation) v. Integration (forcing schools to be racially mixed, without getting rid of laws) De jure (by law) segregation (South) - segregation created by law was in the South. De facto (North) - segregation exists in fact because it just happened, meaning that in many northern areas, there were white schools and black schools that were caused by white and black people living in different neighborhoods (they went to the school the were zoned for) Swamm v Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971) set the law for school integration cases ◦ To violate the constitution a school system must have intended to discriminate. In the north, single race schools were made because of demographics and neighborhoods, not laws, so this became tough to apply ◦ One-race school creates presumption of intent (an intent to discriminate). A school system in the north could overcome this presumption by arguing the neighborhoods/housing patterns changed ◦ When there has been past discrimination, remedies have included quotas, busing, and redrawing district lines. This didn’t apply to where there was no intent, which means it applied to most of the spite and not the north. ‣ Quotas said that there must be a certain amount of African American/White people in the school. ‣ Bussing was moving kids into neighborhoods to balance out schools. ‣ District lines could be used to include or exclude different neighborhoods so kids would be zoned for certain schools The importance of intent was that the Supreme Court said that they would not constantly redraw district lines or bus routes ◦ White flight: white people leaving a neighborhood and as they move out, other groups move in and the demographics of the neighborhood changes. White flight may create single race schools ◦ Integrated schools are usually found in integrated neighborhoods and quality school systems Busing remains controversial ◦ Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Regan opposed busing A 1992 decision allows busing to end in a Georgia school district if segregation was caused solely by serrated housing patterns (if it was due to de facto segregation and not by de jure segregation). When there was no evidence of intent, then they would not force kids out of their neighborhoods to go somewhere else for school IV. The Campaign in Congress for Civil Rights A) Get issues on the political agenda by, for example, mobilizing opinion by use of dramatic events Ex. Sit-ins, freedom rides for voter registration efforts; sit-ins by sitting and physically having to be removed by protest against discriminatory treatment (1964-1968): a period of full range of events, such as non-violent civil disobedience to racial violent riots (became set backs for movement of civil rights) Coalition-building congressional setbacks ensured. The ability to build coalitions suffered set backs in Congress because of the violent demonstrations and riots, they were seen as laws breaking by others in the countries (by many whites) and what happened a movement to coalition-building for civil rights suffered a set back due to the rioting  3 developments brought real change in civil rights: ◦ Change in public opinion, was more in favor of civil rights and reform in the nation; public opinion changed because nation realized actions taken by segregationists in southern states (extensive media coverage of events occurring in the south (TV - police batons, water cannons; showed true violence against African Americans, believed change was needed) ◦ Kennedy assassination brought about change, as he himself was a civil rights supporter and his assassination was perceived by some as an effort to stop civil rights advancements ◦ 1964- Democratic Party landslide in presidency and in Congress, allowed northern democrats to prevail in Congress; Lyndon Johnson reelected and northern democrats in Congress, brought civil rights legislation in Congress 1957-1968: many bills passed ◦ 1957, 1960, 1965, voting rights laws ◦ 1964 Civil rights bill was high point - a wide ranging bill that protected civil rights in many areas: ‣ Employment ‣ Public accommodation ‣ Voting ‣ Schools/education 1964 bill is considered the most comprehensive civil rights bill, the democratic majority and LBJ victory brought this bill about; a signal of a major shift in nation to one of true equality of all citizens Effects since 1964 ◦ Mood of Congress seems to have shifted, in support of civil rights (considered permanent) ‣ Ex. (1988) Congress overrode Reagan’s veto ◦ Dramatic rise in African American voting, and has continued to be, especially in the 1960’s V. Women and equal rights (History - women were seen as perpetual minors, they needed protection + it has been a history of women fighting a legal tradition that claimed it was protecting women.) women were subjected to patriarchal family laws A) Court review of gender-based classifications required the Supreme Court to decide about standards (what standard will they use in a case?). ◦ Reasonableness standard v. Strict scrutiny: this is the suspect classification standard (race is a suspect classification) (court did not use gender-based classifications) ◦ Court chose a blended standard for its standard for scrutiny (a standard that is more demanding as the reasonable standard, but not as strict as strict scrutiny). (Gender based classifications are not inherently suspect, such as with race). (Court does not treat gender like race). ◦ Gender based differences prohibited by the courts in these cases: ‣ The age of adulthood ‣ Drinking age ‣ Arbitrary (without reason) employee height and weight requirements ‣ Mandatory pregnancy leaves ‣ Little league exclusions ‣ Retirement benefits ‣ Salary for high school coaches for boy vs. girls ◦ Gender-based differences allowed in these cases: ‣ Statutory rape ‣ All-boy/all-girl public schools ‣ Delayed promotions in the navy B) The Draft Rostker v. Goldberg (1981): court may, by law, require men to register for the draft (1993) The Secretary of Defense only allowed women in combat positions in air or sea, but not on the ground combat positions ◦ Afterward, there had been a gap between policy and practice (2013) Secretary of Defense lifts ban on women in combat  ◦ Result: women have held post in all positions of the military C) Sexual harassment Two forms: ◦ Quid pro quo - a demand from a person in a superior position (at work) of sexual favors in return for holding the job or gaining promotions (employers are held strictly liable (no difference if employer knew or not)). ◦ Hostile or intimidating environment - includes cresting work environment where there is offensive sexual jokes or teasing or obscenity that creates a setting where the harassment impairs a persons ability to work (the employers are only liable if they knew it was going on and were negligent) Supreme Courts view on sexual harassment continues to evolve and the standards could change in the future D) Abortion (ch. 4, pgs. 123-124) Decided individually by states until 1973 (1973) Roe v. Wade was a class action lawsuit (decided the issue on a nationwide basis) ◦ Struck down Texas ban on abortion and similar state laws ◦ Court said woman’s freedom to choose was protected by the fourteenth amendment, where the due process clause implied a right to privacy, which protects a woman’s right to choose ‣ 1st trimester = no regulations ‣ 2nd trimester = ‣ 3rd trimester = an abortion ban is possible in the state laws ◦ Critics claimed that life begins at conception, and that the fetus is a person that is entitled to the equal protection guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment ◦ Supporters said that no one can know when life begins, so a woman has a right to choose (the pro-life position) ◦ Constitutional amendments to overturn Roe failed in Congress ◦ Hyde Amendment (1976): no federal funds for abortions unless woman’s life is in danger, meant to limit attempts for abortion ◦ Hyde upheld in 1980, challenged on constitutional grounds but found constitutional ◦ Gag order imposed under Pres. Bush, Sr. (1988-1992), stating that no federal funding for any family planning clinic if it provided and included abortion counseling. This was removed under President Clinton (1992) Webster Case (1989): Supreme Court upheld some restrictions on abortions Planned Parenthood v. Casey Decision (1992): did not overturn Roe, affirmed a basic right of a woman to have an abortion, but permitted more restrictions in State Laws. ◦ Ex: ‣ Can have a 24 hour mandatory period ‣ Some states needed parental consent to minors ‣ Have to give out pamphlets that provided exact information and had pictures, also had to provide alternatives to an abortion ◦ it affirmed the basic right of woman to have an abortion under the Roe case, but permitted more restrictions to be in state laws The struggles over Abortion laws have involved public demonstrations and protests (1992’ The courts must balance the right of people to protest against abortion and the clinics right to operate an abortion (1994) The Supreme Court up held a State Court’s order of a 36 foot buffer zone around a clinic and Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (Fed Crime to intimidate service providers or women sleeping entrance to facility). VI. Affirmative Action A) Some proponents want Equality of results Racism and sexism can only be overcome when taking them into account when designing a remedy Equal Rights is not enough, and that people need benefits (a pro-active government can only bring improvement).  Affirmative Action should be used in hiring, race and gender need to be considered in hiring and promotion and entrances into colleges and universities B) Others want only Equality of Opportunity Laws should colorblind and gender neutral in order to prevent reverse discrimination Government should only be eliminating job barriers C) The issue has been fought out in the Courts The Court is deeply divided, and for a long time, was affected by the judicial appointments by Conservative Pres. Ronald Reagan. The law providing affirmative action is complex and confusing ◦ Bakke Case (1978): court said that numerical quotas are not permissible, because this could result in reverse discrimination (qualified people of not minority will not be admitted); said race could be a consideration for acceptance and admission; numerical quotas would seem like the only factor ◦ Later cases upheld a quota in non-school cases (shows complexity and confusion). Emerging standards for quotas and preference systems ◦ Quota system: court that if case challenges quota system, they would apply strict scrutiny; there must be a compelling state interest to justify the quotas ◦ The quotas system must also be intended to correct an actual pattern of discrimination that has existed, and the state government has to identify the actual practice that was discriminatory (very strict scrutiny) (would have to show a person was denied a job due to race). ◦ To prove discrimination, must identity the actual practices that discriminated and which caused the discriminatory effect Compensatory Action (helping minorities catch up, helping so they can compete) versus preferential treatment (giving minorities preference, quotas) In 2003, Supreme Court made 2 important decisions in college admission affirmative action cases ◦ Gutter Case - promoting racial diversity on campus is a compelling interest and race OK as one of many factors ◦ Gratz Case: struck down College’s system that minorities were automatically give on extra points towards admission. Decided because it would result in reverse discrimination