Civil Rights

Vocabulary flashcards about Civil Rights lecture notes.

Civil Rights

Rights guaranteed to all American citizens by law; usually refers to social freedoms and equal treatment under the law.

Full Citizenship

Refers to voting rights, equal treatment by law, and right to own property.

Discrimination

Use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion; unfair practices, squarely at odds with American values of equality, and constitutional rights afforded to Americans.

Naked rights

Supreme Court held that a white women’s rights existed through her father, husband, or trustee. A woman’s rights were protected by a male, and thus that male had a right to the woman.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime after conviction.

Fourteenth Amendment

Guaranteed equal protection under the law, stating that states cannot infringe upon the equal rights.

Fifteenth Amendment

States that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Upheld the concept of separate but equal, which fostered national segregation; overt discrimination in public accommodations was common.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overturns Plessy “separate but equal doctrine” that sanctioned segregation.

Strict scrutiny

Government discrimination on the basis of race must pass strict scrutiny legal standard. It needs a compelling state interest and must be narrowly tailored as possible

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Public accommodations could no longer be inferior or segregated; strengthened the hand of the executive branch in dealing with segregated schools; created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and allowed for the Justice Department to enforce fair-employment practices.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Interference with the right to vote on the basis of race is now a federal issue; bans literacy tests; pre-clearance requirements for specific states and regions due to extensive record of disenfranchisement policies or attempts.

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.”

Mendez v. Westminster (1947)

Ruled that Mexican and Mexican Americans in separate schools was unconstitutional.

1973 Rehabilitation Act

Outlawed discrimination against individuals on the basis of disabilities.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Guarantees equal employment; access to public businesses; and prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and health care.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

Protects people from age discrimination that are age 40 or older.

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Georgia sodomy and oral sex law. SC rules that sodomy can be illegal.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Texas sodomy law. SC rules that Sodomy is protected under privacy.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA, 1996)

Ruled unconstitutional under Due Process in 2013.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Gay Marriage legal - 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause

Affirmative Action

Government policies or programs seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups with access to educational and employment opportunities.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Affirmative action upheld, but quotas and separate admission for minorities rejected; burden of proof on defendant.

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

The Court applied a “strict scrutiny” test to the law school’s policy, and found that the law school’s admissions process was narrowly tailored to the school’s compelling state interest in diversity.