Fourteenth Amendment Notes

Fourteenth Amendment: Text

• Citizenship Clause:

  • "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

• Privileges or Immunities Clause:

  • "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."

• Due Process Clause:

  • "Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

• Equal Protection Clause:

  • "Nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Story of the Fourteenth Amendment

• Backlash Against the Thirteenth Amendment:

  • The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the U.S.

  • Southern states attempted to reintroduce slavery through Black Codes.

• Black Codes:

  • Denied newly freed African Americans the right to sue, make contracts, inherit property, and exercise basic civil rights.

• Civil Rights Act of 1866:

  • Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 in response to the Black Codes.

  • Affirmed that all people in the U.S. were entitled to the same civil rights, including the right to make and enforce contracts and to sue and be sued.

• Constitutional Authority Questioned:

  • Congress questioned its authority to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

• Reconstruction Republicans and the Fourteenth Amendment:

  • Reconstruction Republicans, led by John Bingham, believed the Fourteenth Amendment was necessary.

  • It was intended to clarify Congress's power to enforce the amendment's provisions through legislation.

  • It was designed to guarantee equal civil rights, privileges, and immunities of citizenship.

• Purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment:

  • The Fourteenth Amendment was designed to constitutionalize the rights in the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

  • It overturned the portion of the Dred Scott case that denied citizenship and rights to black people.

Birthright Citizenship: Wong Kim Ark (1898)

• Background:

  • Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents residing in the U.S.

  • He was denied entry to the U.S. after visiting China at age 21 due to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

• Chinese Exclusion Act:

  • This act prohibited Chinese subjects from becoming citizens.

• Wong Kim Ark's Argument:

  • Wong Kim Ark argued that he was entitled to citizenship because he was born in the U.S.

• Supreme Court Decision:

  • The court agreed with Wong Kim Ark.

  • The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment automatically made him a U.S. citizen.

• Justice Horace Gray's Opinion:

  • Justice Gray stated that being born on American soil automatically grants citizenship, regardless of parents' status.

• Exceptions:

  • Exceptions were Native Americans and diplomats who were not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

Privileges or Immunities Clause: Slaughterhouse Cases

• The Case:

  • The case involved the Crescent City Company in Louisiana, which created a slaughterhouse in response to health concerns.

  • The legal question was whether the monopoly violated the Fourteenth Amendment and whether requiring butchers to use the slaughterhouse was a violation.

• Court's Narrow Interpretation:

  • The court narrowly interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause, essentially removing it from constitutional relevance.

• Majority Opinion:

  • The majority asserted that privileges or immunities of U.S. citizenship were a narrow category of rights already protected before the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • Example: the right of habeas corpus.

• Dissenting Opinion:

  • Dissenters argued that the ruling contradicted the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • The law was meant to incorporate the Bill of Rights against the states and ensure all citizens had equal privileges or immunities.

• Original Understanding:

  • The original understanding was that the Privileges or Immunities Clause was far broader, including rights to sue, be sued, and inherit property.

• Incorporation Doctrine:

  • It took nearly a century for the Supreme Court to incorporate the Bill of Rights against the states through the Due Process Clause.

• Critical Consensus:

  • Liberal and conservative scholars agree the Slaughterhouse Cases were wrongly decided.

  • The Supreme Court has been unwilling to re-examine the decision.

Equal Protection Clause and Jim Crow Segregation

• Undermining of Amendments:

  • Southern redemption and Jim Crow laws undermined the promise of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.

• Jim Crow Laws:

  • These laws enforced segregation, requiring African Americans to use separate schools, water fountains, restrooms, railroad cars, and hotels.

• Disenfranchisement:

  • States used violence, intimidation, poll taxes, and literacy tests to prevent African Americans from voting.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Background:

  • Homer Plessy, working with the Committee of Citizens, challenged Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890.

  • The act segregated railroad cars based on race.

  • An exception was made for nurses, suggesting the law's true intent.

• Test Case:

  • Plessy, who appeared white but was of mixed race and considered black under Louisiana law, was chosen for the test case.

  • The goal was to prove the arbitrary nature of the law.

• Supreme Court Decision:

  • In a 7-1 decision, the court upheld the separate but equal laws.

• Justice Henry Billings Brown's Majority Opinion:

  • The court argued that the laws didn't violate the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Amendments.

  • $\text{Justice Brown: } \text{The object of the fourteenth amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, in the nature of things, it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color}$

  • The court stated that the law was a reasonable use of the state's police power.

  • Justice Brown argued that the perception of inferiority was due to how African Americans interpreted the segregation.

• Justice John Marshall Harlan's Dissent:

  • Harlan's dissent is considered one of the most important in Supreme Court history.

  • $\text{Harlan: } \text{In view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here.}$

  • Harlan stated that the Constitution is color-blind and doesn't recognize classes among citizens.

  • He predicted the decision would be as harmful as the Dred Scott case.

  • Harlan argued that everyone knew the real purpose was racist exclusion based on a premise of black inferiority.

  • It wasn't a neutral purpose to exclude white people from railroad cars occupied by African Americans or a neutral purpose to accommodate the desires of both black and white people, but instead a racist desire to exclude black people from coaches occupied by white people based on a premise of black inferiority. Everyone knows, said Harlan.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Shift in Agreement:

  • The U.S. Supreme Court eventually came to agree with Harlan's dissent.

• Background:

  • Brown v. Board of Education is considered the most famous and important Supreme Court decision of the 20th century.

  • Thurgood Marshall, head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argued the case and drew inspiration from Harlan's dissent.

• NAACP's Strategy:

  • Brown was the culmination of a long-term strategy by the NAACP to challenge Jim Crow laws.

  • The strategy involved a gradual campaign to undermine segregation, starting with public universities and law schools.

• Sweat v. Painter (1950):

  • In Sweat v. Painter, the court questioned the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy.

  • The case involved Herman Sweat, who was denied admission to the University of Texas law school based on race.

  • The court ruled that the separate law school set up by Texas was unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause.

• Combined Challenges:

  • The Brown case combined challenges from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C.

  • The cases involved African American students denied admission to white public schools.

  • The challengers argued that segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

• Supreme Court Decision:

  • The Supreme Court unanimously agreed and overturned Plessy.

  • The court concluded that school segregation violates the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of equality and was unconstitutional.

• Chief Justice Warren's Opinion:

  • $\text{Chief Justice Warren: } \text{We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.}$

  • The court concluded that separate facilities are inherently unequal because they impose a badge of inferiority on African American students.

• Impact:

  • Brown attacked the core of the White South's Jim Crow laws and reinvigorated the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of equality.

  • After Brown, the Supreme Court extended the reach of the Equal Protection Clause to cover discrimination in other settings.

• Civil Rights Act of 1964:

  • In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, promoting equality.

  • Along with Brown, the Civil Rights Act helped to make the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Fourteenth Amendment a reality.