American Government - Chapter 5 Key Terms

Civil Rights

Rights that guarantee individuals freedom from discrimination

• generally understood as rooted in the 14th Amendment

• Describes what the government must do to prevent discrimination

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990)

Public buildings and public services must be acceptable to persons with disabilities

• employers must reasonably accommodate the needs of workers or potential workers with disabilities

• Does not require the hiring of unqualified persons just because they have a disability

Suspect Classification

Classification, such as race, for which any discriminatory law must be justified by a compelling state interest

Strict Scrutiny Test

Test applied when a law treats two people differently on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, or national origin

• Any time a law discriminates on this basis it is assumed to be unconstitutional.

• Government must then show that the law is justified by a compelling state interest AND is the least restrictive option (no other options for achieving that interest)

• very few cases meet this standard

Intermediate Scrutiny Test

Test applied when a law treats people differently based upon sex or gender

• Any time a law treats people differently based upon gender the government must show that it is substantially related to an important government objective AND that it is not broader than it needs to be to protect the interest

• Still a difficult standard to meet but easier than strict scrutiny

Equal Rights Amendment

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

• First introduced in 1923, finally approved by both chambers in 1972

• 38 states would have to ratify, and the amendment failed to get the 38 in the seven years specified by Congress

Equal Protection Clause

Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment stating that states are not to deny any person equal treatment under the law

Civil Disobedience

“A nonviolent public refusal to obey allegedly unjust laws”

• also advocated by Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau

Reasonable-Basis Test

A test applied by courts to laws that treat individuals unequally — such a law may be deemed constitutional if its purpose is held to be ‘reasonably’ related to a legitimate government interest (age, economic status, other criteria)

• Ex: Courts have held that the goal of reducing fatalities from alcohol related involving young drivers is reason enough to uphold drinking laws that discriminate on the basis of age

• The easiest test to ‘pass’

Jim Crow Laws

• State and local laws that mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the South, many border states, and some northern communities between 1876 and 1964

A system of laws that separated the races in schools, public accommodations, and other aspects of daily life