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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford is a Supreme Court case decided upon in 1857. Dred Scott was a slave that resided in Illinois and the Louisiana Territory where slavery was outlawed. When he returned to Missouri, Scott filed suit for his freedom. The Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that Scott was not a citizen and could not sue in federal court. This decision was one of the worst in American history and set the court up for failure in future years. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865 and made slavery and involuntary servitude illegal in the United States. This was a monumental amendment to the Constitution and was a consequence of the civil war. Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated before the amendment was ratified, claimed all slaves free earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people, including those formerly enslaved, who were born in the United States. This amendment also includes the due process clause which guarantees life, liberty, and property. This was one of the Reconstruction Amendments -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees the right to vote for African American men. This is the last of the Reconstruction Amendments and it also led to Jim Crow Laws. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Lousiana enacted an Act that required the use of separate railway cars for blacks and whites. Plessy, who was seven-eighths Caucasian but still considered Black, sat in the whites-only car. When he was told to vacate, he refused and was arrested. In a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was constitutional and adopted the "Separate but Equal" doctrine. -
White Primaries
White primaries were one of the means used to discourage African American voters. They consisted of using primaries to only let white people vote, particularly in the deep South. The Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment stated that the right to vote can not be abridged by the basis of sex. This was influenced by the Women's Suffrage movement that started in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were used as a prerequisite to voting during voter registration where people would have to pay a flat fee in order to vote. States used this as a way to restrict voting rights for poorer people and achieved the effect of disenfranchising these voters.. -
Brown v. Board of Education
African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on race. These students argued that the segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In a unanimous decision, Earl Warren stated that separate but equal facilities did indeed violate the Equal Protection Clause. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment banned the use of poll taxes or other taxes to abridge the right to vote. in both federal and state elections. The vote passed the House of Representatives 295 to 86. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the largest piece of Civil Rights legislation. The act banned any discrimination on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Act also outlawed Jim Crow laws and any hiring or firing on these basises. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory practices to keep people from voting such as literacy tests and other methods used to block African Americans from voting. The law was also amended in 1975 continuing the provisions and also branching out to other minority groups previously ignored. -
Reed v. Reed
The Idaho Probate Code said males must be preferred to females in regard to appointing estate administrators. Cecil and Sally Reed sought to be the estate administrator, but Cecil was appointed due to the code and Sally challenged the law. In a unanimous decision, the court held that the Code was unconstitutional due to the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that is designed to guarantee equal legal rights to women. It seeks to end legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. The Amendment is still seeking approval and has gotten criticism for being somewhat vague worded. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke, a white man, applied for admission to the medical school at the University of California but was denied. The school reserved 16% of places for qualified minorities. Bakke's qualifications exceeded those of any admitted minority student. He challenged his admission to the Supreme Court. In an 8-1 decision, the Court ruled in favor of Bakke and he was thus admitted, but ultimately the court also ruled that race could be used as admission criteria. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was observed by a Georgia police officer while engaging in homosexual sodomy with another adult in his home. Hardwick was arrested and he challenged the statute's constitutionality in Federal Court and was appealed to the Supreme Court. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas including employment, public accommodations. and access to state and local government programs and services. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man engaging in a private consensual sexual act. He was arrested and convicted of a Texas law prohibiting homosexual sex. Lawrence challenged this and it was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the statute was unconstitutional due to the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same-sex couples sued their states to challenge the constitutionality of those states' ban on same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs argued that the bans violated both the Equal Protection and Due Process Clause. In a narrow 5-4 decision, the court held that the Due Process Clause guarantees a right to marry as a fundamental liberty.
