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Landmark Supreme Court Cases: CIVIL RIGHTS

Right or Principle Defined / Landmark Cases / Relevant Amendment(s), Article, and/or Clause / Question/Issue Addressed / Majority Opinion, including Key Concepts / Significance
1 / Discrimination against African Americans, slavery / Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) / Does a slave who escaped to a free state enjoy the rights of a citizen? Does Congress have authority to ban slavery in the western territories? /
  1. Enslaved Africans and their descendants were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States.
  2. Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.
  3. Because slaves were not citizens, they had no standing to sue in court.
  4. Slaves—as chattel or private property—could not be taken away from their owners without due process.
/ The Court gave legal support to slavery and prohibited efforts by Congress and slaves to challenge the system through legislation or the courts. The decision made civil war as a means to resolve the conflict over slavery much more likely.
2 / Discrimination against African Americans, segregation / Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) / 14th – Equal Protection Clause / Is a L.A. law requiring segregation in public facilities (railroads) constitutional? / “Separate but equal” public facilities are constitutional. / Provided legal protection for de jure segregation in the South.
3 / Discrimination against African Americans, segregation / Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) / 14th – Equal Protection Clause / Is the segregation of public schools inherently unequal, thereby violating the equal protection clause? / School segregation is inherently unconstitutional because it violated equal protection clause. / Overturned precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, putting court on side of desegregation.
4 / Discrimination against African Americans, segregation, federalism / Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964) / Article I – Commerce clause, 5th / Is Congress’ ban on racial discrimination in public places in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 constitutional? / Upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Congress has authority under the Interstate Commerce clause to ban racial discrimination in public places. 5th Amendment does not forbid reasonable regulation of interstate commerce and such incidental damage did not constitute the "taking" of property without just compensation or due process of law. / Allowed Congress/federal government to use its Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination. Strengthened federal power over states.
5 / affirmative action / Regents of the University of California v. Bakke(1978) / 14th – Equal Protection Clause / Do affirmative action programs discriminate against whites, thereby violating equal protection? / Affirmative action programs are constitutional, but schools may not use numerical quota systemsto admit less qualifiedindividuals solely on the basis of their race. Race may be considered as one factor in college admissions. / Affirmed constitutionality of affirmative action programs, but restricted the methods they could use.
6 / discrimination against Asian Americans, civil liberties and war / Korematsu v. U.S. (1944) / 5th – Due process / Does the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during World War II violate the due process rights of Japanese Americans? / Upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during WW II. The need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu's individual rights, and the rights of Americans of Japanese descent. / The court deferred to Congress and military authorities in wartime (judicial restraint), sacrificing civil liberties and permitting legalized racism in a “rush to accommodate overbroad claims of military necessity."
7 / civil rights of women, Right to privacy / Roe v. Wade (1973) / 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 9th(implied right to privacy) / May a state regulate moral behavior, including banning abortions except to save the life of a mother? / Abortions within first trimester legal under right to privacy, and states may not abridge that right. / Broadened the scope of the right to privacy to include abortions within first trimester.
8 / civil rights of women, federalism / U.S. v. Morrison (2000) / Article I – commerce clause, 14th – Equal Protection Clause / Parts of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, in providing a civil remedy for victims of gender-motivated violence, exceed Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce? / Parts of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 were unconstitutional because they exceeded congressional power under the Commerce Clause and the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause. Gender-motivated crimes are not an “economic” activity. / Limited Congress’ power to combat gender-based forms of oppression under the interstate commerce clause.
9 / Voting rights / Baker v. Carr (1962) / 14th – equal protection / Is reapportionment a “political question” in which the federal courts may not interfere? Does the equal protection clause apply to voting rights? / State house districts must be apportioned on the basis of “one person, one vote.” Reapportionment is not a “political question,” so the federal courts may intervene. / Shifted power from rural white areas toward urban/minority areas in state legislatures. Expanded use of judicial activism in voting rights cases.
10 / Voting rights / Reynolds v. Simms (1964) / 14th – equal protection / Is reapportionment a “political question” in which the federal courts may not interfere? Does the equal protection clause apply to voting rights? / State senate districts must be apportioned on the basis of “one person, one vote.” / Shifted power from rural white areas toward urban/minority areas in state legislatures.
11 / Voting rights / Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) / 14th – equal protection / Is reapportionment a “political question” in which the federal courts may not interfere? Does the equal protection clause apply to voting rights? / Congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.