In whose court is the ball? -- case studies
Historical time-line for civil rights in the United States:
* 1789 -- The U.S. Constitution allows the continuation of human slavery
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution limit the application of the Bill of Rights to actions by the federal government. [Discussion: was the continuation of African-American slavery, a policy decision, inconsistent with the rule of law?}
* 1857 -- Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court rules that not only slaves, but all African-Americans are not "persons" within the meaning of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, meaning that even in federal territories the Congress and the President could not prohibit slavery and, further, that African-Americans had no right of access to the federal courts. [Discussion: There is an internal logic to this decision if what kind of judicial analysis is applied?]
* 1866 -- The Civil War Amendments (13th,14th,15) mandate equality {followed by a series of federal laws designed to enforce the Amendments against the states, including the Voting Rights Act of 1875} [Discussion: Or does it? What is meant by "equality"?]
The 13th Amendment- abolished slavery
The 14th Amendment- guaranteed equal protection and due process
The 15th Amendment- guaranteed voting rights for African American men
* 1896 -- Plessy v. Ferguson decision establishes the "separate but equal" doctrine with regard to race: 14th Amendment only guarantees political, not social, equality [Discussion: How can we differentiate political equality from social equality?]
* 1954 -- The Supreme Court reverses the PLESSY decision; specifically, it rejects the separate but equal doctrine, arguing that the government -- federal or state -- cannot promote social, as well as political, inequality (that is, the Constitution must be "color-blind"). [If the Constitution must be "color-blind", how can affirmative action programs be constitutional?]
* 1955 -- Brown v. Board of Education II: local governments must move with "all deliberate speed" to integrate the schools. [Who is responsible for determining what is "all deliberate speed"? For enforcing it?]
* August 1955: 14-year-old Emmitt Till is murdered while on a visit to Mississippi from his home in Chicago. {What court system -- state or federal -- has jurisdiction to handle this case?]
* fall 1955 -- Till murder trial leads to acquittal for all defendants, and 5th Amendment double jeopardy clause ("nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb" prevents a re-trial")
[Is there a constitutional remedy available here for the victim and/his her survivors? A legislative remedy?]
* December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person and is arrested [What impact, if any, does Brown v. Board of Education have on this situation?]
* 1956 -- Browder v. Gayle: Montgomery, Alabama. ordinances requiring separation of the races on private means of transportation within the city limits (such as the bus Rosa Parks rode on) is unconstitutional. {How could the Supreme Court reach this decision regarding when the buses were not public and the commerce clause was not involved?
* September 24, 1957: Little Rock Central High School and the "Little Rock Nine" -- Republican President Eisenhower sends in federal troops to enforce the integration of the high school. [What constitutional basis existed here for federal executive action?]
* Cooper v. Aaron (1958) -- In response to the state of Alabama amending its constitution to all segregated schools, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state cannot nullify a Supreme Court interpretation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause. {What current situation in California might cause the Supreme Court to examine the Cooper decision? How is the Cooper case arguably a precedent? How is it not on target directly as a precedent?}
* 1962: Democratic President Kennedy sends federal troops to enforce the admission of an African-American student, James Meredith, to the University of Mississippi.
* Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex or national origin" in employment practices and public accommodations (in other words, expanded the reach of the 14th Amendment partially into the private sector). It also made it a federal crime to interfere with another person's civil rights. [What constitutional authority exists for Congress regulating private businesses?]
1965 -- federal Voting Rights Act: outlawed discriminatory practices in voting. {Note: this wasn't a court decision, but an act by the federal government over voting procedures, which had always been the domain of state authority in the federal system. Today, it applies to parts of only 9 states. Where would Congress' authority to pass this legislation come from? And, if this was a constitutional act in 1965, how can it be challenged before the Supreme Court now as unconstitutional?}
* 1972 -- Title IX of the federal Educational Amendments Act: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance...{Why was this Act limited to education programs involving "Federal financial assistance?"}
* 1978 -- Regents of University of California v. Bakke: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rules that, although affirmative action programs are constitutional, quota system were "reverse discrimination" and illegal. {Is this a contradictory decision by the Court?}
* 1991: Rodney King (an African-American) is beaten by 7 California police officers after a highway stop; the beating is caught on video-tape by a bystander. [Where should criminal charges against the police officers be filed?}
* 1992: After a state trial for assault, the police officers are acquitted by a jury that included no African-Americans. [Is there a constitutional theory under which this verdict could be overturned, despite the double jeopardy clause?]
* 1993: Federal trial for civil rights violations leads to a conviction and prison sentence. [How is this outcome consistent with the 6th Amendment double jeopardy clause?]
* 2003 -- Grutter v. Bollinger: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court allowed an affirmative action program that used race as a separate factor in admissions to the University of Michigan Law School. {How is this system different from a quota system, disallowed in Bakke?}
* 2012 -- Fisher v. University of Texas (argued): Students were guaranteed admission to the University of Texas if they were in the top 10% of their graduating high school class. The appellant was not, and so was in the pool of applicants in which race was a separate factor in admissions. {Why would the Supreme Court accept this case, when the Texas policy was based upon the Court's decision in Grutter in 2003?}
* 1789 -- The U.S. Constitution allows the continuation of human slavery
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution limit the application of the Bill of Rights to actions by the federal government. [Discussion: was the continuation of African-American slavery, a policy decision, inconsistent with the rule of law?}
* 1857 -- Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court rules that not only slaves, but all African-Americans are not "persons" within the meaning of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, meaning that even in federal territories the Congress and the President could not prohibit slavery and, further, that African-Americans had no right of access to the federal courts. [Discussion: There is an internal logic to this decision if what kind of judicial analysis is applied?]
* 1866 -- The Civil War Amendments (13th,14th,15) mandate equality {followed by a series of federal laws designed to enforce the Amendments against the states, including the Voting Rights Act of 1875} [Discussion: Or does it? What is meant by "equality"?]
The 13th Amendment- abolished slavery
The 14th Amendment- guaranteed equal protection and due process
The 15th Amendment- guaranteed voting rights for African American men
* 1896 -- Plessy v. Ferguson decision establishes the "separate but equal" doctrine with regard to race: 14th Amendment only guarantees political, not social, equality [Discussion: How can we differentiate political equality from social equality?]
* 1954 -- The Supreme Court reverses the PLESSY decision; specifically, it rejects the separate but equal doctrine, arguing that the government -- federal or state -- cannot promote social, as well as political, inequality (that is, the Constitution must be "color-blind"). [If the Constitution must be "color-blind", how can affirmative action programs be constitutional?]
* 1955 -- Brown v. Board of Education II: local governments must move with "all deliberate speed" to integrate the schools. [Who is responsible for determining what is "all deliberate speed"? For enforcing it?]
* August 1955: 14-year-old Emmitt Till is murdered while on a visit to Mississippi from his home in Chicago. {What court system -- state or federal -- has jurisdiction to handle this case?]
* fall 1955 -- Till murder trial leads to acquittal for all defendants, and 5th Amendment double jeopardy clause ("nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb" prevents a re-trial")
[Is there a constitutional remedy available here for the victim and/his her survivors? A legislative remedy?]
* December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person and is arrested [What impact, if any, does Brown v. Board of Education have on this situation?]
* 1956 -- Browder v. Gayle: Montgomery, Alabama. ordinances requiring separation of the races on private means of transportation within the city limits (such as the bus Rosa Parks rode on) is unconstitutional. {How could the Supreme Court reach this decision regarding when the buses were not public and the commerce clause was not involved?
* Voting Rights Act of 1957 (September 2, 1957) |
* Cooper v. Aaron (1958) -- In response to the state of Alabama amending its constitution to all segregated schools, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state cannot nullify a Supreme Court interpretation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause. {What current situation in California might cause the Supreme Court to examine the Cooper decision? How is the Cooper case arguably a precedent? How is it not on target directly as a precedent?}
* 1962: Democratic President Kennedy sends federal troops to enforce the admission of an African-American student, James Meredith, to the University of Mississippi.
* Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex or national origin" in employment practices and public accommodations (in other words, expanded the reach of the 14th Amendment partially into the private sector). It also made it a federal crime to interfere with another person's civil rights. [What constitutional authority exists for Congress regulating private businesses?]
1965 -- federal Voting Rights Act: outlawed discriminatory practices in voting. {Note: this wasn't a court decision, but an act by the federal government over voting procedures, which had always been the domain of state authority in the federal system. Today, it applies to parts of only 9 states. Where would Congress' authority to pass this legislation come from? And, if this was a constitutional act in 1965, how can it be challenged before the Supreme Court now as unconstitutional?}
* 1972 -- Title IX of the federal Educational Amendments Act: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance...{Why was this Act limited to education programs involving "Federal financial assistance?"}
* 1978 -- Regents of University of California v. Bakke: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rules that, although affirmative action programs are constitutional, quota system were "reverse discrimination" and illegal. {Is this a contradictory decision by the Court?}
* 1991: Rodney King (an African-American) is beaten by 7 California police officers after a highway stop; the beating is caught on video-tape by a bystander. [Where should criminal charges against the police officers be filed?}
* 1992: After a state trial for assault, the police officers are acquitted by a jury that included no African-Americans. [Is there a constitutional theory under which this verdict could be overturned, despite the double jeopardy clause?]
* 1993: Federal trial for civil rights violations leads to a conviction and prison sentence. [How is this outcome consistent with the 6th Amendment double jeopardy clause?]
* 2003 -- Grutter v. Bollinger: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court allowed an affirmative action program that used race as a separate factor in admissions to the University of Michigan Law School. {How is this system different from a quota system, disallowed in Bakke?}
* 2012 -- Fisher v. University of Texas (argued): Students were guaranteed admission to the University of Texas if they were in the top 10% of their graduating high school class. The appellant was not, and so was in the pool of applicants in which race was a separate factor in admissions. {Why would the Supreme Court accept this case, when the Texas policy was based upon the Court's decision in Grutter in 2003?}