| 1) Civil Liberties: Nationalizing the Bill of Rights |
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The rights in the Bill of Rights are called "civil liberties" because they protect citizens' freedom from improper government action. The Bill of Rights guaranteed a private sphere of personal liberty free of governmental restrictions |
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Focus on what government must not do: the NO rules |
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Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting freedom of speech, press, or people to assemble. |
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The right to bear arms shall NOT be infringed, and NO soldier shall be quartered. |
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A) Dual Citizenship |
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In 1833 case of Barron v. Baltimore, Court decided that persons were citizens of the national government and state government separately. The Bill of Rights thus did not apply to the states. |
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B) The 14th Amendment |
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Although the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, it was not until the 1960's that it was interpreted to incorporate all of the civil liberties established by the Bill of Rights and to apply to the states as well as the national government. |
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From the 1890's through the 1960's, liberties were selectively incorporated, piece by piece. |
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C) The Constitutional Revolution in Civil Liberties |
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The revolutions were moving toward nationalization, using both the commerce clause and the 14th amendment to expand national protection of civil liberties to the states. |
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Privacy was recognized as an additional civil liberty with Griswold v. Connecticut, and then confirmed and extended with the Roe v. Wade abortion case. |
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D) Rehnquist: A De-nationalizing Trend? |
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Recent years have seen a more conservative court move in a de-nationalizing direction. |
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Rehnquist's Court has chipped away at the wall of separation between church and state in the "establishment" clause of the 1st amendment. |
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This Court has also narrowed the scope of abortion rights. |
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It remains to be seen how far toward de-nationalizing civil liberties this Court will go. |
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| 2) Civil Rights |
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Civil rights are obligations, imposed on government by the "equal protection" clause of the 14th Amendment, to take positive action to protect citizens from the illegal actions of other citizens and government agencies. |
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The "equal protection" clause was not enforced consistently until after World War II and the breakthrough case of Brown v. Board of Education. |
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Since the passage of major civil rights legislation in 1964, the civil rights struggle has been expanded and universalized to include women, the disabled, gays, lesbians, and other minority groups. |
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A) Plessy v. Ferguson: "Separate But Equal" |
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1896 case where the Court upheld Louisiana segregation law, creating the "separate but equal" rule. |
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B) Racial Discrimination After WWII |
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Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. |
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The case, argued by Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP, challenged whether any segregated facility could be truly equal. |
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Court stated: states would no longer have the power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law. |
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From then on the national government would have the power to intervene with strict regulatory policies against the discriminatory actions of state or local governments and the private sector. |
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C) Civil Rights after Brown v. Board of Education |
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Discrimination didn't end with Brown, due to delaying tactics and de facto desegregation. |
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1960's Civil Rights Movement led by many including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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Movement utilized civil disobedience and passive resistance |
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Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott |
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King led 250,000 in march on Washington, D.C., delivered "I Have a Dream" speech |
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School desegregation: busing and beyond |
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Collective action explains why hundreds of thousands of people participated in the civil rights movement |
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D) The Rise of the Politics of Rights |
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Outlawing discrimination in employment |
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Compensatory action to overcome the consequences of past |
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discrimination |
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To further goal of "equal protection" required positive or affirmative action by Congress |
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Gender discrimination: Title VII made room for other groups to push for equal rights |
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Disabled, gay and lesbian groups also use "equal protection" clause to fight for rights |
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E) Affirmative Action |
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Affirmative action is compensatory action to overcome the consequences of past discrimination and to encourage greater diversity |
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May but doesn't necessarily include use of quotas |
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Bakke case challenged constitutionality on grounds of reverse discrimination, but principle of affirmative action remained |
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Still a very active issue as the Supreme Court continues to examine educational admission standards |
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