Chapter 5
CIVIL RIGHTS
AND
PUBLIC POLICY
Introduction
Civil Rights
Definition: policies designed to
protect people against arbitrary or
discriminatory treatment by
government officials or individuals
Racial Discrimination
Gender Discrimination
Discrimination based on age,
disability, sexual orientation, and
other factors
Two Centuries of Struggle
Conceptions of Equality
Equal opportunity: same chances
Equal results: same rewards
Early American Views of Equality
The Constitution and Inequality
Equality is not in the original
Constitution.
First mention of equality in the 14th
Amendment: “…equal protection of
the laws”
Two Centuries of Struggle
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Era of Slavery
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Slaves had no rights.
Invalidated Missouri Compromise
The Civil War
The Thirteenth Amendment
Ratified after Union won the Civil War
Outlawed slavery
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Era of Reconstruction and
Resegregation
Jim Crow or segregational laws
Relegated African Americans to
separate facilities
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Upheld the constitutionality of “equal
but separate accommodations”
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Era of Civil Rights
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Overturned Plessy
School segregation inherently
unconstitutional
Integrate schools “with all deliberate speed”
Busing of students solution for two kinds of
segregation:
de jure, “by law”
de facto, “in reality”
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
The Era of Civil Rights (continued)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Made racial discrimination illegal in
hotels, restaurants, and other public
accommodation
Forbade employment discrimination
based on race
Created Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)
Strengthened voting right legislation
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right to Vote
Suffrage: the legal right to vote
Fifteenth Amendment: extended
suffrage to African Americans
Poll Taxes: small taxes levied on the
right to vote
White Primary: Only whites were
allowed to vote in the party
primaries.
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right to Vote
Smith v. Allwright (1944): ended white
primaries
Twenty-fourth Amendment:
eliminated poll taxes for federal
elections
Harper v. Virginia State Board of
Elections (1966): no poll taxes at all
Voting Rights Act of 1965: helped end
formal and informal barriers to
voting
Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Other Minority Groups
Native Americans
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978)
Hispanic Americans
Mexican American Legal Defense
and Education Fund
Asian Americans
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Women, the Constitution, and Public
Policy
The Battle for the Vote
Nineteenth Amendment: extended
suffrage to women in 1920
The “Doldrums”: 1920-1960
Laws were designed to protect women,
and protect men from competition
with women.
Equal Rights Amendment first
introduced in Congress in 1923
Women, the Constitution, and Public
Policy
The Second Feminist Wave
Reed v. Reed (1971)
“Arbitrary” gender discrimination
violated 14th Amendment’s Equal
Protection Clause
Craig v. Boren (1976)
“Medium scrutiny” standard established
for gender discrimination
Equal Rights Amendment fails ratification
by states (1982)
Women, the Constitution, and Public
Policy
Women in the Workplace
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned gender
discrimination in employment.
Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth
The Supreme Court has not ruled on this issue.
Women in the Military
Only men may be drafted or serve in ground
combat.
Sexual Harassment
Prohibited by Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964
Newly Active Groups Under the Civil
Rights Umbrella
Civil Rights and the Graying of America
Age classifications not suspect category,
but fall under rational basis test.
Civil Rights and People with Disabilities
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Requiring employers and public facilities
to make “reasonable accommodations”
for those with disabilities
Prohibits employment discrimination
against the disabled
Newly Active Groups Under the Civil
Rights Umbrella
Gay and Lesbian Rights
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Overturned Bowers
Private homosexual acts are
protected by the Constitution
Gay marriage
Many state constitutions amended
to prohibit practice
Affirmative Action
Definition: a policy designed to give special
attention to or compensatory treatment of
members of some previously disadvantaged
group
In education
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Racial set asides unconstitutional
Race could be considered in admissions
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
Race could be considered a “plus” in admissions
Affirmative Action
In employment
United Steelworks v. Weber (1979)
Quotas to remedy past discrimination are
constitutional.
Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995)
To be constitutional, affirmative action
must be “narrowly tailored” to meet a
“compelling governmental interest.”
Did not ban affirmative action, but
severely limited its reach
Understanding Civil Rights and Public
Policy
Civil Rights and Democracy
Equality favors majority rule.
Suffrage gave many groups political power.
Civil Rights and the Scope of Government
Civil rights laws increase the size and
power of government.
Civil rights protect individuals against
collective discrimination.
