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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dredd Scott was a slave in Missouri where he escaped and lived in the free state of Illinois as a free man. He returned to Missouri as a free man and filed suit in a court that he was a free man. His former owner said that he could not be free as he was property. The SCOTUS ruled in favor of Sandford and said that Scott could not be a free man. This led to the precedent that slaves were property. -
13th Amendment
This amendment was passed by Congress shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War. This amendment abolished slavery after the death of Lincoln and after the confederacy reentered the union. -
14th Amendment
This amendment introduced the idea of due process. This amendment states 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. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment was ratified as a response to the South refusing former slaves and black people the right to vote. This amendment states that state and the federal government can not prohibit a person's right to vote based on race, skin color or other factors. In response to this, many states implemented a literacy test to prevent black voters from being eligible in the first place. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes was basically a tax on voting. This was started in around the 1870s and was meant to prohibit or limit poor and black voters. All poll taxes were ended in 1964 with the 24th amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
With the passing of the Separate Car Act in Louisiana, Plessy challenged the act and sat in a white only car and was arrested. The SCOTUS ruled that the act did not violate the 14th amendment because just because the cats were separate, did not mean they were unequal. This led to the separate but equal precedent. -
White Primaries
The white primaries started in the early 1900s in Southern states, where only white males were allowed to vote in the primary elections. The impact of the minority was heavily decreased and more laws and amendments were made to change the voting system. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment was passed in 1920 which allowed women the right to vote after a long period of time where women protested for their rights. The 19th amendment says that voting rights can not be prohibited based on sex. Today, voter turnout of women is higher than that of men. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This was a bigger case that compiled many different cases, primarily in the South, of segregation in public schools and challenged if the segregation challenged the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The SCOTUS ruled that the separate but equal segregation in public schools was indeed unequal and that it gave the students a sense of inferiority. This was one of the biggest cases in the start of overturning segregation in the Civil Rights Movement. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment was passed after a series of protests. This amendment states that any citizen of the United States can not be prohibited to vote based on any failure to pay a poll tax. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or sex. This act came after a hard fought Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and some could consider is still being fought today. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act was passed but President Lyndon B Johnson in order to outlaw all discriminatory practices to stop, mainly the South, from prohibiting citizens to vote by use of a prerequisite test or other method. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action can be best described as positive racism and involves the inclusion of groups based on race, gender, etc. in areas where those groups are underrepresented. This started with executive order 11246 passed by President Lyndon B Johnson. -
Reed v. Reed
In Idaho, there was a probate code of "males preferred to females." After a case regarding a civil dispute of real estate, Sally Reed challenged the law saying it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. The SCOTUS ruled that the code violated the clause on the basis of sex. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Admissions in the University of California had a use of racial quotas in admission to the medical program. Bakke sued the school because he was denied access to a specific number of seats because his scores were significantly higher than those of the minority. The SCOTUS ruled the racial quota was unconstitutional and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was observed and arrested for participating in acts of homosexual sodomy. He challenged this law's constitutionality and was eventually brought to the supreme court. The SCOTUS said the constitution did not protect these acts and ruled that states could ban these practices. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA first prohibits discrimination on the basis of people with disabilities. The ADA also states that accommodations be made for people with disabilities in many areas including transportation, employment, and in public. -
Motor Voter Act
The national voter registration act, also known as the motor voter law, made it easier and gave more opportunities for Americans to register to vote, including registering when applying for a drivers license. The impact not only increased the number of registered voters, but also highly increased voter turnout. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence and another man were caught participating in homosexual intimacy and were arrested under Texas' statute. Lawrence challenged this and the decision of Bowers v Hardwick. The SCOTUS ruled that the statute violates the Due Process Clause and overturns Bowers v Hardwick. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same sex couples sued their state agencies for the banning of same sex marriage or refusal of recognition of such, arguing it violates the Equal Protection Clause. The SCOTUS ruled that the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses guarantees the right for same sex couples to be legally married. This was a 5-4 case and the all 4 dissenting judges wrote their own dissenting opinions saying the Constitution does not mention same sex issues, and that the court overstepped it authority. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The equal rights amendment is a proposed amendment to the constitution that would guarantee equal rights for all regardless of sex. This amendment was first drafted in 1923 by Alice Paula and Crystal Eastman of the women's suffrage movement.
