Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
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February 20, 2017
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Current Events
Current Events
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Current Events
CPAC, Trump, and The Press
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Current Events
The Texas Flag
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby reject the notion
that the Chilean flag, although it is a nice flag, can in any way compare to or be
substituted for the official state flag of Texas and urge all Texans not to use the
Republic of Chile flag emoji in digital forums when referring to the Lone Star Flag of the
great State of Texas.
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Today’s Puzzles
Today’s Puzzles
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Today’s Puzzles
How Puzzling
Why do state constitutions have bills of rights?
If we have “free speech” in the United States, then why does everybody keep
telling me to take down the Facebook photos of me doing a keg stand at RoundUp
before my job interviews?
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Civil Rights
Civil Rights
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Civil Rights
Civil Rights
Obligations imposed on government to protect citizens from discrimination by
others (government and citizens)
When is discrimination acceptable?
How have people expanded civil rights in the United States?
What are important contemporary civil rights issues?
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Civil Rights
Origin of Civil Rights
The Bill of Rights
The 14th Amendment, 1868
Equal protection clause
The 15th Amendment, 1870
Section 1: The right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the U.S. or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude
Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation
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Civil Rights
Civil Rights During Reconstruction
1865-1877
Period after the civil war when southern states were subject to a federal military
presence
Sparks backlash and is abandoned in a political compromise
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Civil Rights
Contracting Rights: 1876-1964
Jim Crow laws
white primary
poll taxes
literacy tests
grandfather clause
Role of SCOTUS
State action doctrine
Plessy v. Ferguson
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The Civil Rights Era
The Civil Rights Era
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The Civil Rights Era
Dismantling Jim Crow
Supreme Court Rulings
Sweatt v. Painter
Brown v. Board of Education
African Americans in the South are disenfranchised until:
1964: 24th amendment
1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Act
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The Civil Rights Era
Dismantling Jim Crow
Civil Rights Movement
NAACP and its legal strategy
Social movement organizations
Strategic use of the media
Strategic politicians
Changing norms, shifts in racial attitudes
Northern migration
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The Civil Rights Era
Dismantling Jim Crow
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The Civil Rights Era
Dismantling Jim Crow
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The Civil Rights Era
Applying the Equal Protection Clause
Is discrimination legal?
Sometimes: it depends on the basis of discrimination
3 Standards of Review
Rational basis test
Strict scrutiny
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The Civil Rights Era
Applying the Equal Protection Clause
Is discrimination legal?
Sometimes: it depends on the basis of discrimination
3 Standards of Review
Rational basis test
Intermediate scrutiny
Strict scrutiny
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The Civil Rights Era
Women’s Political Equality
19th Amendment
1920
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state on account of sex” . . .
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any state on account of sex
Passed in Congress, 1972
Required ratification by 3/4 of the states within 7 years
Had initial support but fell short
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The Civil Rights Era
Women’s Political Equality
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The Civil Rights Era
Title IX
Law passed in 1972 that requires gender equity for boys and girls in every
educational program that received federal funding
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The Civil Rights Era
Title IX
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The Civil Rights Era
26th Amendment, 1971
Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or
older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on
account of age
Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation
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The Civil Rights Era
Turnout
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The Civil Rights Era
Contemporary Civil Rights Issues
Affirmative Action
Programs designed to enhance opportunities for race- or gender-based groups that
have suffered discrimination in the past
Supreme Court rulings mixed
See value in classroom diversity
Reject rigid point system
Felon Disenfranchisement
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The Civil Rights Era
Turnout
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The Civil Rights Era
Incarceration Rates
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The Civil Rights Era
Felon Disenfranchisement
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Civil Liberties
Civil Liberties
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Civil Liberties
Civil Liberties
Protections on individuals from abuses of power by government
In the US Constitution, Bill of Rights
Big Questions:
What liberties are protected?
At what level of government?
Under what circumstances do people want to limit civil liberties?
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Civil Liberties
Does the Bill of Rights apply to the States?
Barron v Baltimore, 1833 (dual citizenship)
Slavery
14th Amendment
“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”
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Civil Liberties
Selective Incorporation
The case-by-case process through which SCOTUS applies the Bill of Rights to the
states
Happens gradually
Now, most of the Bill of Rights applies to the states
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Free Speech
Free Speech
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Free Speech
Speech
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech”
Clear and Present Danger Test
Can’t yell fire falsely in a crowded theater (Schenk v. U.S. 1919)
Allows the government to restrict certain types of speech deemed dangerous
Direct Incitement
Threatening speech is protected under the 1st Amendment unless it is likely to
cause imminent “lawless action” (Brandenberg v. Ohio 1969)
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Free Speech
Less Protected Speech
Fighting Words
Some words constitute violent acts and are therefore not protected
Obscenity
Publicly offensive language with no redeeming or social value
Miller Test
1
2
3
Appeals to prurient interest
Patently offensive
Lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
Commercial speech
More regulated than political speech
Defamation
Untruthful speech that has malicious intent and is harmful to the subject
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Free Speech
Freedom of the Press
Prior Restraint
A limit on freedom of the press that allows the government to prohibit the media
from publishing certain materials
Since the 1971 Pentagon Papers case, SCOTUS has mostly discarded the
government’s prerogative of prior restraint
Exceptions: troopship, gag orders in trials
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Free Speech
Satire
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Religious Freedom
Religious Freedom
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Religious Freedom
Establishment Clause
Part of the First Amendment that states “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion,” which has been interpreted to mean that Congress
cannot sponsor/endorse any religion
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Religious Freedom
Lemon Test
Government action must have a:
Secular moral purpose
Not have the primary purpose of advancing or prohibiting religion
Not result in excessive government entanglement with religion
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Religious Freedom
Free Exercise Clause
Part of the First Amendment that states that Congress cannot prohibit or interfere
with the practice of religion
Sherbert Test:
Is it a sincere religious belief and is government action a substantial burden on a
person’s ability to act on that belief
If yes:
Does the government action further a “compelling state interest” and is it the least
restrictive or burdensome to religion?
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The Second Amendment
The Second Amendment
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The Second Amendment
The Right to Bear Arms
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right
of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
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The Second Amendment
Incorporation of the 2nd Amendment
2010: applied to state governments
Two development in Texas last year:
Open Carry: allows people with a Concealed Handgun License to openly carry a
handgun in a belt or shoulder holster
Campus Carry: allows licensed people to carry concealed handguns in most state
university buildings
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Criminal Rights
Criminal Rights
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Criminal Rights
The 4th Amendment
Protects from unlawful search and seizure of property
Practical effect is police need a warrant to enter an individual’s home
Exceptions
Stop and Frisk
Sobriety tests
Security checkpoints
Current (ongoing) controversy — Patriot Act, 2001
To what extent and under what conditions do we accept government surveillance?
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