Ch. 21 Equal Justice

Discrimination Against Women Women are in fact not a minority, making up over 51 percent of the U.S. population. Women, however, on average, earn less than men, consist of less than 10 percent of Congress, less than 20 percent of the 50 State legislatures, and are underrepresented in corporate management and other groups in the private sector.

Equal Protection Clause Reasonable Classification The government may reasonably classify, or draw distinctions, between groups of individuals. Government may not discriminate unreasonably, however. The Supreme Court often uses two measures to determine the constitutionality of an action: The Rational Basis Test The rational basis test asks: Does the classification in question bear a reasonable relationship to the achievement of some proper governmental purpose? The Strict Scrutiny Test Sometimes more imposing standards are used, especially when a case deals with “fundamental rights” or “suspect classifications.” The 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause declares that citizens are protected equally under the law.

Segregation in America Segregation means the separation of one group from another. Jim Crow laws, passed in the late 1800s by several States, aimed at separating minorities from the white population. The separate-but-equal doctrine, upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, provided that separate facilities for African Americans were legal as long as they were equal to those provided for whites. In 1954, the Supreme Court struck down separate-but-equal in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Desegregation and integration programs progressed through the 1950s and 1960s. De facto segregation, segregation in fact even if no law requires it, has emerged in housing and schooling patterns in some areas of the country.

Civil Rights: Reconstruction to Today The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Prohibited discrimination against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or physical disability in any federally funded programs. Forbid employers to discriminate against any person on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical disability, or age in job- related matters. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 AKA, “Open Housing Act” Forbids anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability.

Affirmative Action Affirmative Action is a policy that requires most employers to take POSITIVE steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations. applies to all national, state, and local governments, and private employers who sell goods/services to any Federal agency Sometimes, this involves quotas for specific hires

Affirmative Action Cases and Measures Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978 Allan Bakke sued the University of California for reverse discrimination and won. This case shows that the Constitution does not allow race to be used as the only factor in the making of affirmative action decisions. Adarand Constructors v. Pena, 1995 The Supreme Court’s decision in this case holds that whenever government provides for any preferential treatment based on race, that action is almost certainly unconstitutional, even if it is intended to benefit minority groups suffering from past injustices.

The Question of Citizenship A citizen is a member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to it by birth or naturalization and is entitled to full civil rights.

Citizenship by Birth Jus Sanguinis Jus Sanguinis is the law of the blood, or to whom one is born. A child who is born abroad to at least one citizen, and who has at some time lived within the United States, can petition for citizenship. Jus Soli Jus soli is the law of the soil, or where one is born. The 14th Amendment confers citizenship to any person born within the United States.

Citizenship by Naturalization Individual Naturalization INS investigates each applicant and then reports to a judge, the oath or affirmation is administered, and the new citizen receives a certificate of naturalization. Collective Naturalization Less Common - most common when the US acquired new territory and the inhabitants are given citizenship. Naturalization is the legal process by which a person becomes a citizen of another country at some time after birth.

Loss of Citizenship Expatriation legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs. voluntary act. Constitution prohibits automatic expatriation, so an individual cannot have his or her citizenship taken away for breaking a law. Denaturalization Denaturalization is the process by which citizens can lose their citizenship involuntarily. This process can only occur by court order and only after it has been shown that the person became a citizen by fraud or deception. Deportation This is a legal process in which aliens are legally required to leave the United States. The most common cause of deportation is illegal entry to the country.