Civil Rights Timeline

By TrinityJackson

  • Scott vs. Sanford

    What happened? Dred Scott tried suing his owners and claimed that he was a free man since slavery was banned in the territory that he lived in.
    Ruling: The court ruled that if you were black or of African descent, then you weren’t considered an American citizen and you couldn’t sue or have a trial in court.
    Constitutional question: Are people of African descent considered citizens and can they sue in federal court?

  • Reconstruction (1865-1877)

    The time period after the Civil War where we basically put America back together

  • 13th Amendment (reconstruction)

    The 13th amendment banned slavery except as a punishment for a crime

  • 14th Amendment (reconstruction)

    The 14th amendment established citizenship and had a due process clause in it (this due process extended equal protections to the states)

  • 15th Amendment (reconstruction)

    The 15th amendment allowed the right to vote that couldn't be denied because of your race

  • 24th Amendment (reconstruction)

    The 24th amendment abolished poll taxes

  • Jim Crow Era (1877- 1960)

    This is the era of Jim Crow laws. These laws were made to keep segregation. These kept blacks and whites in separate facilities

  • Plessy vs. Ferguson

    What happened? Plessy an African American was arrested after he refused to move to a “blacks only” compartment on a train. He then went to court and tried to show that Louisiana’s segregation laws were unconstitutional and violated the 14th amendment
    Ruling: court ruled in favor of Louisiana and claimed that the law didn’t violate the 14th amendment as long as facilities for whites and blacks were equal
    Are Louisiana’s segregation laws unconstitutional and do they violate the 14th amendment?

  • 19th Amendment

    The right to vote should not be denied because of ones sex

  • Scottsboro Boys (1931-1937)

    9 boys were accused of raping two white women on a train. During their first trial, there was an all-white, all-male jury who convicted 8 out of 9 of the boys to death. This case dealt with the right to a fair trial of your peers.

  • George Stinney Case

    What happened? George Stinney a 14-year-old boy was accused of killing two young girls aged 7 and 11. He was sentenced to death and it only took the jury 10 minutes to convict him.
    Constitutional Question: Is sentencing a minor (or anyone for that matter) to death unconstitutional?

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    A labor law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, and sex. It prohibits racial segregation in public accommodations.
    The federal government says that you will practice this law or we will stop funding you. Basically holding money over their heads to get what they want/need.

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    prohibits certain jurisdictions from implementing any change affecting voting without getting preapproval from higher authority first, so that way they can see if the charge that was implied doesn’t discriminate against protected minorities.
    Address substantive due process in the states.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1968

    Prohibited housing discrimination against someone because of his/ her race, gender, religion, or national origin.

  • California v. Bakke (1978)

    What happened? Allan Bakke was rejected admission into the University of Medical School at Davis. He believed he was denied access because of his race. Did the University of California violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by practicing an affirmative action policy?
    Ruling: some judges said yes that it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

    Two students applied to the University of Michigan' College and were denied access. The school said that they met qualifications but weren't competitive enough and weren't in a "underrepresented minority"
    Did the University of Michigan’s use of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1964?
    Ruling: Yes because it was not narrowly tailored in the manner required by previous jurisprudence on the issue

  • Meredith v. Jefferson Co Board (2007)

    Meredith sued Jefferson County Public Schools and claimed the policy of allowing kids to pick what school they wanted, but still keeping balanced racial integration violated kids EPC
    Does Gratz v. Bollinger allow a school district to use race as the sole factor to assign high school students to public school?
    No, the policy didn't meet Court's standards for constitutionally legitimate use of race. Racial balancing still isn't constitutional simply because you relabel it racial diversity

  • Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

    Constitutional question: Does the renewal of Section 5 of the Voter Rights Act exceed Congress' authority under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and therefore violate the Tenth Amendment and Article Four of the Constitution?
    What happened? Shelby County, Alabama filed suit in district court and claimed that section 5 and section 4(b) were unconstitutional.
    Ruling: the court ruled in favor of Shelby county and said that section 4 of the voting rights act was unconstitutional.