Chapter 6: Civil Rights

Civil rights

The rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional differences.

Separate-but-equal doctrine

The doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that African-Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities.

De jure segregation

Racial segregation that is required by law.

De facto segregation

Racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement.

Civil disobedience

Opposing a law one considers unjust by peacefully disobeying it and accepting the resultant punishment.

Rational basis

If the policy uses reasonable means to achieve a legitimate government goal, it is constitutional (drinking age).

Intermediate scrutiny

If the policy "serves an important government interest" and is "substantially related" to serving that interest, it is constitutional (women in combat).

Strict scrutiny

To be constitutional, the discrimination must serve a "compelling government interest," it must be "narrowly tailored" to attain that interest, and it must use the "least restrictive means" to attain it (Affirmative action based on race, but no majority has yet embraced this position on gender).

Rostker v. Goldberg (1981)

Congress can draft (military) men without drafting women.

Police powers

State power to affect laws promoting health, safety, and morals.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

"Right to Privacy" (9th Amendment) under due process of 14th Amendment (equal protection under the law)

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

law allowed states to implement restrictions within first trimester (parental notification wait period, spousal notice)

Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)

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"undue burden" standard

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Equality of results

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Equality of opportunity

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Affirmative action

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Reverse discrimination

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Compensatory action

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Preferential treatment

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Plessy v. Ferguson

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Brown v. Board of Education (Topeka, KS 1954)

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Campaign in Congress

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Fourteenth Amendment (1889)

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Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

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Sexual Harassment

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Should the government be allowed to use a quota system to select workers, enroll students, award contracts, or grant licenses?

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If so, at what point does it end?

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Judicial Standards/Patterns

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Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (2014)

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Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

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Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

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Gay Rights (Past)

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Gay Rights (Future)

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Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013)

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United States v. Windsor (1996)

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Oberefell v. Hodges (2015)

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Sexual Orientation (Private Organizations)

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