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Dred Scott V. Sandford
Dred Scott, and other slaves like him, were deemed property unless living in a free state. He attested to this in the supreme court but found a loss; the court ruled that African Americans would never be citizens of the United States and therefore, despite having resided in a free state, Dred Scott was not entitled to his freedom. -
13th Amendment
In an effort to preserve the Union, President Lincoln published an amendment to make slavery unconstitutional. While the south did not free their slaves with this in place (seeing as they were rebelling at the time), this has been seen as a momentous historical event and hence forth has been effective and pushed forwards towards racial equality. -
14th Amendment
A very important decision and in high contrast with the Dred Scott case, this amendment allows any person(s) born on United States' soil to be a citizen, even if they had previously been a slave. As well, it was possible to be naturalized or become a citizen despite their past abuse. -
15th Amendment
In 1870, it was declared unconstitutional for voters to be limited by the color of their skin, their race, or their previous position as a slave. While deemed unconstitutional, some states unfortunately found room in their hearts to provide literacy tests and the like to prevent this same population of people from voting to the best of their ability. As well, women still could not vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
While the decision is certainly deplorable by today's standards, the case of Plessy versus Ferguson resulted in it being maintained that segregation was allowed as long as the facilities of both were of similar quality. However, we all know that these facilities were not at all of similar quality. -
19th Amendment
Quite far down the line from African American men being granted the right to vote (with unnecessary road blocks laid out by the states), women gained their own right to vote. Now, 'all' adult citizens of the United States can vote without discrimination based on their sex or race. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In a rare and surprising turn of events, this is a case where all judges voted unanimously that racial segregation in educational buildings was unconstitutional. This resulted in schools having a more diverse population and further shrinking the racial gap. -
Civil Rights Act
A vital act, as many are, made it illegal to discriminate against candidates for employment on the basis of sex, race, disability, religion, or more of the like. Furthermore, public or federal services cannot be withheld for the same reasons. -
Voting Rights Act
Quite soon after women gained their right to vote, it was made apparent that literacy tests were unwarranted and unnecessarily difficult. They were put in place to prevent African Americans from voting and, finally, were made illegal under this act. -
Reed v. Reed
In Idaho, there used to be a law stating that if a man and a woman were just about equally qualified, the man was to be hired over the woman. This did not sit well with the citizens of America, however. The case made it to the supreme court and ended with Idaho's law being deemed unconstitutional as well as discrimination of employment on the basis of sex. -
Title IX
Title IX makes it illegal for a public university to discriminate against students on the basis of sex, especially in sporting events. Moreover, it ruled stalking etc. as sexual harassment and broadened the illegality of such actions. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Despite many racial inequalities in the workplace being made illegal, a new problem was coming to pass. Schools were seeking out racial minorities in the form of a quota. They were not attempting to balance their admissions rate by allowing a racial minority in with lower scores rather than the racial majority with a higher test score. Because this was quota driven (dehumanizing therefore), it is unconstitutional in the majority of cases. Race can be considered but a number required is not made. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
In July of 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into a law. This law prohibits employment offices and government programs from discriminating against an individual on the bases of their disability alone. The intent was to allow those with disabilities to have equal opportunities. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
June 26th (my birthday !) held a momentous occasion involving the legalization of same-sex marriage across the entirety of the United States of America. It was deemed unconstitutional to prevent adult couples from getting married if they desired.
