Civil Rights and Public Policy

Chapter 5

Civil Rights

– Definition: policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals

– Civil Liberties: Protections against govt.

– Civil Rights: Protections given by govt.

3 Key types of inequality in America

• Discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and other factors

Most Americans favor equality in the abstract, but not the concrete struggle

• Racial Discrimination

• Gender Discrimination

Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008

The modern Civil Rights movement began in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat.

Conceptions of Equality

Philosophically: defining the termConstitutionally: interpreting the lawPolitically: involves power

Americans believe in equality of opportunity– Equal opportunity: same chances– Equal results: same rewards

Early American Views of Equality

Early American Views of Equality

-Jefferson wrote “ all men are created equal”

-Colonists did not defend slavery but did little to abolish it

-Not really discussed at the Const. Convention

-Women received even less attention

The Constitution and Inequality

Equality is not in the original Constitution.Const. was a plan for govt. not for individual rights

– First mention of equality in the 14th Amendment: “…equal protection of the laws”

It wasn’t until the mid 1900’s that the 14th was used to assure rights for disadvantaged groups

The Court has developed 3 levels of judicial scrutiny (classifications)

Reasonable: a rational relationship to a legitimate govt. purpose (drinking age, driving age)

Inherently Suspect: Court presumes the laws to be invalid and will only uphold them if they serve a compelling public interest and no other way to accomplish the purpose of the law. Burden of proof in on the govt. (affirmative action, college admission)

Medium Scrutiny: Somewhere in between. Law must bear a substantial basis to a legislative purpose (draft and women)

Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

Civil Rights laws have benefited other groups other than African Americans

3 Eras define the struggle for equality in America

1. The Era of SlaveryAny public policy of the slave states or federal govt. had to accommodate the property interests of slave owners

– Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Slaves had no rights under the White man’s govt Congress had no power to ban slavery in western

territories Invalidated Missouri Compromise

–Union victory in the Civil War

–The Thirteenth AmendmentRatified after Union won the Civil WarOutlawed slavery

2. Era of Reconstruction & Resegregation (end of Civil War -1954)

After the Civil War, Congress imposed strict conditions on the South before they could be readmitted to the Union

Jim Crow Laws (Black codes) used in Southern states. Required blacks to use separate public facilities and school systems. Also, was common practice in the North

–Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)Upheld the constitutionality of “equal but separate

accommodation” (separate but equal doctrine)

Some progress made in the early 1900’s1915- Guinn v. US: banned grandfather clause in

voting1944- Smith v. Allwright; outlawed all White

primaries1950- Sweatt v. Painter; said Blacks are entitled to

the same professional & graduate education as whites

3. The Era of Civil Rights

Leading up to the civil rights movement, segregation was de jure (by law) in the South and de facto (by practice) in the North

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

-Began the Era of civil rights

-SC set aside the precedent of Plessy

- School segregation inherently unconstitutional

- SC said to integrate schools “with all deliberate speed” (1955)

1955The civil rights movement organized both

blacks and whites to end practices of segregation

Movement began with Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama

Bus boycotts led by MLK Jr.Sit ins, marches, civil disobedience were

strategies of the civil rights movement

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Made racial discrimination illegal in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodation

Forbade employment discrimination based on race

Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Strengthened voting right legislationNo federal funds to segregated schools

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools (1971)

SC upheld ordered busing by federal judges to racially balance schools

Getting and Using the Right to Vote

– Suffrage limited to White male property holders

– Fifteenth Amendment: extended suffrage to African Americans (not implemented for another 100 yrs)

States used different methods to get around the 15th

– Grandfather Clause: exempted people from literacy tests if their grandpas could vote in 1860. (Declared Unconst. Guinn v. US)

– Poll Taxes: small taxes levied on the right to vote (24th)

– White Primary: Only whites were allowed to vote in the party primaries because parties were considered private (Unconst. Smith v. Allwright)

- Voter registration tests (literacy)

Many barriers to suffrage fell in the 1960’s

– Twenty-fourth Amendment: eliminated poll taxes for federal elections 1964

– Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966): no poll taxes at all

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Prohibited any government from using voting procedures that denied a person suffrage on the basis of race.

Federal registrars were sent to areas in which discrimination occurred and registered blacks

Other Minority Groups– Native Americans

Oldest minority group, not citizens until 1924 1946; Indian Claim Act; settled $ disputes

– Hispanic Americans• Largest group (13% of pop)– Asian Americans• Fastest growing minority (4% of pop)• During WWII 100,000 Japanese placed in camps

Korematsu v. United States (1944) upheld internment, Congress later gave $

Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy

Women’s equality has emphasized legislation over litigation

The 1st women’s rights activists were products of the abolition movement

Women did not have identity separate from their husbands because of the doctrine of coverture.

Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized a meeting @ Seneca Falls, NY

The Seneca falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions (1848) started the movement and ended with the 19th Amend

The Battle for the Vote– Nineteenth Amendment: extended suffrage to

women in 1920The “Doldrums”: 1920-1960

– Women’s movement quit moving, because suffrage was the only goal they all agreed on.

– People saw this movement as a threat on the family.

– Equal Rights Amendment first introduced in Congress in 1923

The Second Feminist Wave

The civil rights movement attracted many women

N.O.W. and the National Women’s Political Caucus were organized in the 60’s & 70’s

Before the contemporary feminist movement, the SC upheld most cases of sex based discrimination

The Second Feminist Wave

– Reed v. Reed (1971)“Arbitrary” gender discrimination violated

14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause– Craig v. Boren (1976)

“Medium scrutiny” standard established for gender discrimination

Equal Rights Amendment

–Passed by Congress in 1972, sent to the states for ratification

–Fell 3 states short of ratification

Women in the Workplace- Traditional family is a thing of the past- 67 million women in the workforce- 33 million female head of households- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned gender

discrimination in employment.- The Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission can sue employers suspected of illegal discrimination (1972)

Title 9 of the Education Act of 1972 forbade sex discrimination in federally subsidized education programs

3 most controversial issues that legislators will face:

1. Wage discrimination

2. Women in the military

3. Sexual harassment

Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth– The Supreme Court has not ruled on this issue.

Women in the Military– Only men may be drafted or serve in ground

combat.– Women comprise 15% of the armed forces

Sexual Harassment– Prohibited by Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964

– Most common in male dominated professions

New Groups Under the Civil Rights Umbrella

Civil Rights and the Graying of America– Age classifications not suspect category, but

fall under rational basis test.– People in their 80’s are the fastest growing age

group in the US.– Several laws have been passed to ban age

discrimination

Civil Rights and People with Disabilities

-Disabled have suffered from direct and indirect discrimination

-Rehabilitation Act of 1973: added disabled people to the list of those protected from discrimination

-Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Requiring employers and public facilities to make

“reasonable accommodations” for those with disabilities

Prohibits employment discrimination against the disabled

Gay and Lesbian Rights

–Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) -Allows states to ban homosexual relations

-1993: Clinton announced the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military. Defense dept. ban on homosexual activity

-Lawrence v. Texas (2003) -Overturned Bowers -Private homosexual acts are protected by the Constitution

-2000: SC said Boy Scouts could exclude gay men as members because it violated their principles

– 7 states have passed laws protecting homosexuals

– Gay marriage

-1996: Defense of Marriage Act: Congress allows states to disregard gay marriages

Many state constitutions amended to prohibit practice

VT, CT, and Mass recognize gay “civil unions” Some other states provide benefits to same-sex

couples

Affirmative Action Definition: a policy designed to give special

attention to or compensatory treatment of members of some previously disadvantaged group

The goal is to move beyond equal opportunity towards equal results

The federal govt. has mandated all state and local govts. adopt affirmative action programs.

Some groups claim that AA programs are reverse discrimination

In education– Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

(1978) Racial set asides unconstitutional Race could be considered in admissions

– Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) Race could be considered a “plus” in admissions to

Michigan’s law school because it was narrowly tailored

– Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)• SC struck down UM plan to give bonus points

for undergraduate admission applicants who were minority. This was considered to be quotas.

In employment– United Steelworks v. Weber (1979)

Quotas to remedy past discrimination are constitutional.

– Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995) To be constitutional, affirmative action must be

“narrowly tailored” to meet a “compelling governmental interest.”

Did not ban affirmative action, but severely limited its reach

– The Court has ruled that AA does not exempt recently hired minorities from layoffs “first hired, first fired”

Most Americans oppose affirmative action and see it as reverse discrimination

California passed Proposition 209 in 1996. Banned state affirmative action programs.

Understanding Civil Rights and Public Policy

Civil Rights and Democracy– Equality favors majority rule.– Suffrage gave many groups political power.

Civil Rights and the Scope of Government– Civil rights laws increase the size and power of

government.– Civil rights protect individuals against

collective discrimination.