1. CIVIL RIGHTS
Defined: Protections against arbitrary discrimination by government or by other people because of personal characteristics such as race or gender

2. CIVIL RIGHTS & AFRICAN AMERICANS
13th Amendment – 1865 abolishes slavery
14th – Guarantees full citizenship and equal rights (but not to native Americans)
No state shall make/enforce any law abridging privileges and immunities of citizens of US, guarantees due process & equal protection
15th – 1870 – no state can interfere with right to vote on acct of previous servitude, race, color

3. Supreme Court and Civil Rights of African Americans
Plessy v. Ferguson separate does not mean unequal
Brown v. Board of Ed 1954 – overturns separate but equal doctrine
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools – next slide…

4. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools 1971
Busing ok to assure desegregation under certain circumstances: DE JURE segregation is not allowed, DE FACTO segregation is DE JURE – by law, by government policy DE FACTO – by fact – (by reality) - something that “just happens”, not the direct result of government policies but of private choice, e.g. people choose to live in different neighborhoods Court: only DE JURE segregation in education violates 14th amendment equal protection right

5. Civil Rights Act 1964
Full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, privileges in places of public accommodation
Right to equality in employment opportunities
Creates Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Federal funds can be withheld if there is discrimination

6. Supreme Court limits on CR
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Bakke case (1978) – racial quotas in education violate equal protection clause, but ok to factor in race, to promote diversity, so long as you don’t use an explicit numerical quota.
Adarand v. Pena (1995) – next slide

7. Adarand v. Pena (1995) –
Federal programs that classify people by race…
should be presumed unconstitutional.
Court says affirmative action programs:
must be subject to “strict scrutiny” and must be “narrowly tailored”
to achieve a “compelling government interest.”
Most recent case – decided this year: Affirmative action program at UT is okay, didn’t use quotas but did consider race for 25% of class (those not admitted because in top 10 percent of their graduating class)

8. Gender discrimination
1963 –Equal Pay Act
1972- Title IX of Education Amendments, prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.
Court on gender discrimination v. race – Gender discrimination violates 14th amendment BUT gender is not a “suspect” classification like race, not subject to “strict scrutiny” by court

9. Virginia Military Institute case (1996) -
Men-only admissions policy of state-supported
military college violated 14th Amendment.
Sexual harassment:
violates the Civil Rights Act, is a form of gender discrimination
GAY RIGHTS:
Laws singling out gay people that lack a rational basis
violate 14th amendment (Romer v. Evans)
June 2015: States can’t ban gay marriage. Gay couples can
marry wherever they live (14th amendment right)