AP US GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
UNIT 6 REVIEW
CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
• Civil liberties: the legal constitutional protections against government. (Although liberties are outlined in the Bill of Rights it has been the job of the courts to interpret their meaning). • Civil rights: the notion that all people (regardless of race, gender, etc.) are entitled to civil liberties. Due to past discrimination in America, policies have come about designed to protect people against discriminatory treatment and to ensure people’s liberty. Yeah well that might be fine for you in Washington D.C., but we here in Mississippi don’t plan on giving those freedoms to everybody. Enforcing the Bill of Rights
• Due to the federalist system (a national government sharing power with state governments) many state governments considered the Bill of Rights to constrain the national government and not them.
• Barron v. Baltimore (1833): the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights restrained the national government, and not states or cities. The Supreme Court says we don’t have to listen to the Bill of Rights!
• However, after the Civil War and the adoption of the 14th Amendment it became clearer that states would have to abide the Bill of Rights.
• The 14th Amendment is a “grab bag” of an amendment because it addresses a variety of issues including citizenship, equal protection, due process, and the national debt. • The due process clause of the 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.”
• The process of nationalizing the Bill of Rights –
incorporation doctrine – was solidified under . . . • Gitlow v. New York (1925): the Supreme Court ruled that freedom of speech is a fundamental personal right and liberty protected by the due process clause. Therefore, states MUST also follow the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court says now you do have to follow the Bill of Rights!
First Amendment
‐ The constitutional amendment that established the 4 liberties: freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, and to assemble. • “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
• (RELIGION) Establishment Clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” • This has been interpreted as “separation of church and state,” i.e. government should not create policy that would promote a state religion.
• Important Establishment cases: – Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
– Engel v. Vitale (1962)
– Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
• (RELIGION) Free Exercise Clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” • This has been interpreted as people have the right to worship or not worship as they choose.
– The Supreme Court has ruled people have the right to believe what they want, but not necessarily practice as they choose. • (SPEECH & PRESS) First Amendment
• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” • Important free speech cases: – Schenck v. United States (1919) clear & present danger
– Roth v. United States (1957) obscenity – New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) libel – Texas v. Johnson (1989) flag burning • The Bill of Rights mentions specific rights (speech, fair trial), but people have also argued that the Bill of Rights implies other liberties. • Congress too has interpreted the Constitution to imply things not explicitly stated as a means of obtaining more power. – They used the necessary & proper clause to justify the creation of powers to carryout the expressed powers. • Individuals often use the 9th
Amendment (unenumerated powers) and other amendments to justify freedoms / rights not explicitly stated. • There is no amendment that explicitly states people have a right to privacy ‐ the right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government. The right to be left alone. However, the Supreme Court has ruled in . . . • Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965: The SC ruled that people have a right to privacy; they said unstated liberties are implied by the explicitly stated rights. The backdrop of the case was contraception. • Roe v. Wade, 1973: The SC ruled that a state government’s ban on abortion (during the first trimester) violated one’s right to privacy. Rights of the Accused
• In short, those accused of crimes (defendants) have the right . . . I got rights!
– of habeas corpus
– to be protected from ex‐post facto
– to a jury trial – to a speedy trial
– to not be forced into self‐incrimination
– to counsel (an attorney)
– to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures
– to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment
• The notion is that in order for the government to take your right to life, liberty, and property, it must follow due process as guaranteed in the 14th
amendment. • The due process clause of the 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.”
• In other words, the government (including state governments) must act fairly and use fair procedures. The Supreme Court has defined due process on a case by case basis. • One’s civil liberty to be protected from illegal searches and seizures is guaranteed in the 4th
Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” • The SC has interpreted the 4th Amendment in a manner that evidence obtained from an unreasonable search and seizure to be unconstitutionally and thus not allowed in court – exclusionary rule.
• Mapp v. Ohio (1961):The SC ruled that the one’s 4th
Amendment right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures also applies to state governments.
• Self‐incrimination: A defendant does NOT have to prove their innocence, rather the burden of proof is on the government / prosecution. This right is outlined in the 5th amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled that those arrested (i.e. accused of a crime) must be notified of this right (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966). • Right to counsel: those charged with crimes have the right to an attorney as outlined in the 6th Amendment. • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): The SC found that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor they might be, has a right to a lawyer. • Fair and speedy trial: people have the right to a speedy and public trial with an impartial jury. This is also outlined in the 6th Amendment. Other parts of the 6th Amendment
• “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been Habeas corpus
committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the Right to confront accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory your accuser
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, You may force and to have the Assistance of Counsel for witnesses to his defence.”
appear at court
• One has the right to be protected from cruel & unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment. It is up to the Supreme Court to interpret what “cruel and unusual” means. – Gregg v. Georgia (1976): The SC upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty / capital punishment.
• Similar to other civil liberties (i.e. freedom of speech), for most of our nation’s history state governments felt they were exempt from having to give defendant’s these rights (they assumed it only applied to the federal government), but with the passing of the 14th Amendment slowly but surely the Supreme Court decided that states must also incorporate the Bill of Rights, (i.e. incorporation doctrine). The Supreme Court says you have to follow the Bill of Rights!
• In a democracy it is easy for the majority to outvote and overpower the minority. • For that reason, the U.S. is a “liberal democracy” where minority rights are protected under the Constitution's Bill of Rights.
• Nonetheless, minority groups have struggled to obtain these civil liberties / civil rights. –
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Native Americans
African Americans
Hispanic Americans
Asian Americans
Arab Americans & Muslims
LGBT community Women • During times of crisis the government has often curtailed civil liberties in the name of national security.
– Alien & Sedition Acts
– Sedition Act of 1918
– U.S.A. Patriot Act • Minority groups are often disproportionally affected by this. • Korematsu v. United States (1944): The SC upheld the law that created internment camps for Japanese Americans under the notion that protecting the country from espionage outweighed personal liberties. • Civil rights has come about through . . . – Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, etc.) – Legislation (Civil Rights Act)
– Supreme Court decisions (Brown v. Board of Education)
– Executive orders (Truman’s desegregation of the armed services) The Civil War Amendments (13, 14, 15)
• Despite the existence of “free” states, the SC’s Dred Scott decision (Scott v. Sandford, 1857) ruled that a slave had no rights as a citizen even when he had escaped to a free state. • 13th Amendment: the abolition of slavery.
• 14th Amendment: an amendment that addresses citizenship, due process, and equal protection. The passing of the 14th Amendment began to usher in the idea that states would not be allowed to deny their people equal rights. This incorporation doctrine was solidified under Gitlow v. New York, 1925. • 15th Amendment: African American men obtain the right to vote.
The Civil Rights Movement
• The failure of Reconstruction and the lack of racial equality (i.e. Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, etc.) ushered in the Civil Rights Movement.
• Using a combination of tactics the Civil Rights Movement helped bring about equality under the law for African Americans. – Demonstrations (First Amendment)
– The NAACP lobbied legislators (interest groups)
– Court cases (litigation)
PLEASE NOTICE the ways in which people participated in order to bring about the policy change. Features of the Civil Rights Movement:
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: The law made racial discrimination in public accommodations (hotels, restaurants) illegal and also forbid many forms of job discrimination. • 24th Amendment: made poll taxes illegal in federal elections. • Voting Rights Act of 1965: The law ended barriers to African American suffrage (i.e. literacy tests). It also allowed the federal government to send officials to areas with long histories of discrimination (i.e. the South) for enforcement, and also make those areas submit any proposed changes to their voting practices to a federal official for approval. • One of the issues addressed in the Voting Rights Act was gerrymandering: the process of redrawing electoral districts, often done to establish a political advantage for a particular group by manipulating geographic boundaries. (Baker v. Carr, 1962 was a gerrymandering case.) • Since state legislatures get to draw congressional district lines for years districts were drawn to disenfranchise minorities in the South. • Brown v. Board of Education (1954): The SC ruled that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the 14th
Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.
– As long as things were “separate” they could never really be “equal.” It thus overturned the “separate but equal doctrine.” – Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over this case. His court’s tenure is largely seen as a liberal period and also one of judicial activism. Political Effects of the Civil Rights Movement
• Collectively the Civil Rights Act and Voting Act hurt the Democratic Party in the South, but helped solidify support with minority groups.
• The number of African Americans registered to vote and holding elected office swiftly went up. 1960
1964
• In order to make up for past discrimination, many policies have been created to give an edge to minorities.
– Affirmative Action: a policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group. • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978
• The SC ruled that in regards to affirmative action race or ethnic background could serve as one element in admissions, but a university could NOT set aside places for members of particular racial groups.