protection of civil liberties and rights

What are American citizens’ rights protected by?

• the Constitution

• the Bill of Rights

• subsequent constitutional amendments

• rulings of the Supreme Court

what are civil liberties?

• the fundamental freedoms enjoyed by individual Americans such as freedom of speech, religion and association

• many detailed in the Bill of Rights 1791

what are civil rights?

additional protections that ensure groups of citizens are not discriminated against- many originating from the 14th amendment

How are rights protected by the Constitution?

• framers of the Constitution sought to protect the US from an overly powerful government

• a codified system of checks and balances limited the power of each branch

• framers believed people had inalienable rights

• however the original Constitution entrenched rights for some groups, including gun owners, but not the rights of women or AAs

examples of how the Constitution protects civil rights

How does the Bill of Rights (1791) protect civil liberties? (+examples of important amendments)

• first 10 amendments of the Constitution

• 1st amendment → freedom of religion, speech, press etc

• 2nd→ right to bear arms

• 5th → right to a fair trial

What was the problem with the Bill of Rights?

• it only applied to free persons: not slaves or women

How have subsequent amendments to the Constitution protected civil rights and liberties?

• extended the Bill of Rights to women and slaves:

  • 13th amendment (1865) → abolished slavery

  • 14th Amendment (1868) gave former enslaved people full citizenship

    • grants citizens ‘equal protection’ under the law

  • 15th amendment (1870) → gave men of all races the right to vote

    • including former enslaved people

  • 19th amendment (1920)→ gave women right to vote

  • 24th amendment (1964)→ gave Americans right to vote without needing to pay tax

    • AAs tended to be poorer than white people, so this amendment prevented them from being disenfranchised in greater numbers

What did the 13th amendment do? 1865

abolished slavery

14th amendment 1868

• gave former enslaved people full citizenship

  • grants citizens ‘equal protection’ under the law

15th amendment 1870

• gave men of all races the right to vote

  • including former enslaved people

19th amendment 1920

gave women right to vote

24th amendment 1964

• gave African-Americans right to vote without needing to pay tax

  • AAs tended to be poorer than white people, so this amendment prevented them from being disenfranchised in greater numbers

what is a SC landmark ruling?

• a judgement by the Supreme Court that established a new legal principle

• or fundamentally changes the way in which the Constitution is interpreted

• effectively changes the meaning of federal law

What are the examples of Supreme Court landmark rulings relating to race? (8)

• Shelley v Kraemer 1948

• Brown v Board of Education of Topeka 1954

• Regents of Uni of California v Bakke 1978

• Loving v Virginia 1967

• Grutter v Bollinger 2003

• PICS v Seattle 2007

• Gratz v Bollinger 2003

• Fisher v University of Texas 2013

details of Shelley v Kraemer 1948

• ruled that courts could not enforce racially restrictive covenants in housing

  • these prevented homeowners from selling their property to racial minorities

details of Brown v Board of Education 1954

• declared racal segregation in public schools as unconstitutional and ended the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine

  • under the 14th amendment’s equal protection claus

details of Regents of the University of California v Bakke 1978

• court ruled that using racial quotas in college admissions was an unconstitutional form of affirmative action

• still allowed race to be considered as one of the factors in admissions

details of loving v virginia (1967

struck down state laws on interracial marriage

details of Gratz v Bollinger (2003)

• declared the University of Michigan’s undergraduate admissions policy

  • university’s points based system was too mechanistic and did not allow for individualised consideration of university applications

• all ethnic minority students were auto awarded 20/150 points needed for admission

details of Grutter v Bollinger 2003

• UMich’s law school’s holistic, race-conscious admissions policy was declared constitutional because it considered race as one factor among many rather than using a quota

• more individualised approach in considering racial profile of applicants

details of Parents involved in Community Schools (PICS) v Seattle (2007)

• court declared that the voluntary racial balancing policies in Seattle and Lousiana public schools was unconstitutional because it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment

details of Fisher v University of Texas (2013)

• Abigail Fisher- white applicant who claimed she was discriminated against as other minorities could get in with lower grades

• in its 2016 decision, the Court upheld the Uni of Texas’ use of race in admissions

• ruled that the university’s policy was not discriminatory but instead considered one of many factors in a holistic review of applicants