We the People Unit 3 Lessons 15-20

1. We the People Unit 3Lessons 15-20

2. Timeline of the Course • September 9th Unit #3 Completed. • September 23—Unit #4 Completed. • September 30—Unit #5 Completed. • October 26—Unit #6 Completed. • Fall Break—October 1-18 • We will divide into our unit teams by Wednesday October 26. . • Work October 26-December 2 in your unit teams. • Competition Day—Saturday December 4 (where we make Perry High School proud!!!!!!!!!!! Go Pumas

3. Key Terms/Concepts From Unit #3 • Amendment • Judicial Review • Delegated Powers • Patronage • Platform • Political Party • Political Party • Literacy Test • Poll Tax • Incorporation • Due Process

4. Slavery in the Constitution • Framers did not abolish slavery • Because Southern states would not have ratified Constitution if it abolished slavery. • Main goal in 1787: create stronger national govt. • Congress can’t ban importation of slaves until 1808 • Fugitive slave clause: free states had to return runaway slaves to their owners • 3/5ths Compromise

5. Southern States: States have a right to secede from the Union because… Constitution History Philosophy Northern States: States do NOT have a right to secede from the Union because… Constitution History Declaration of Independence Secession

6. Dred Scott Case Supreme Court ruled (1857) • African Americans are not U.S. citizens • Congress cannot prohibit slavery in new U.S. territories • Constitutional Amendment was required to grant citizenship to blacks

7. Civil War Amendments • 13th: (1865): freed all slaves, outlawed slavery permanently in the U.S. • 14th (1868): all persons born in U.S. are citizens; states cannot violate citizens’ rights; “equal protection of the laws” • 15th (1870): right to vote cannot be denied based on race

8. Failure of Civil War Amendments • Executive Branch did not enforce them • Congress passed civil rights laws, but President refused to enforce • Withdrew federal troops from South in 1877 • Southern states passed “black codes” to prevent blacks from gaining power or equality • Former slaves and free blacks were not treated equally for another 100 years

9. React 1. Does the 14th Amendment give states more power, or place more limits on state power? How? 2. Would each of these examples violate the Fourteenth Amendment? If so, which part? Explain. • Kansas law requires black and white children to go to different schools. • A poor man in Florida is convicted of burglary and sent to prison, but did not have a lawyer because he could not afford one. What are the above two cases?

10. 14th Amendment • Original purpose: protect the rights of former slaves and free blacks. • Made state governments protect citizens’ Constitutional rights. • Limited the power of state governments after the Civil War.

11. 14th Amendment “No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” • Applies only to state governments • Unless other laws exist (“Equal Opportunity Employment laws”) • Does it require “equality of condition”? • Does it require “equal opportunity”? • When can people be treated differently by the law? • “rational basis” • “compelling” social interest

12. Do these laws violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment? Why/ why not? • Adults under 21 can’t drink alcohol • Homosexuals can’t join the military • Women can’t be firefighters • Physically handicapped people can’t be firefighters • 15% of all Arizona State University students must be of a minority race. • Women can’t be guards at all-male prisons • Only men have to register for the draft

13. What is the Doctrine of Incorporation? • States were seen by the Supreme Court as the principal protectors of the individual rights for a few decades after the 14th amendment. • The SC was “leery” of interpreting the 14th amendment in a way that would upset the balance of power between the federal government and the states. • Incorporation—a process whereby using the due process clause of the 14th amendment, deciding whether various guarantees in the Bill of Rights limit the states as well as the national government. • The SC ruled that the due process clause prohibits states from infringing on all the rights in the 1st amendment.

14. More Terms • Equality of Opportunity: everyone can try to achieve the goals they seek, or the “pursuit of happiness”. Laws must not unfairly disadvantage anyone in his/her opportunity to seek a variety of social goods such as employment, education & housing, • Equality of Condition: the results or outcomes of life will be the same for all, such as equality in personal possessions, living standards, medical care and working conditions. Which “equality” do you see this country moving towards?

15. Strict Scrutiny • Laws that create classifications based on race, national origin, religion or status as a legal resident are subject to the most rigorous judicial scrutiny. • Laws that deny or dilute the right to vote, impede interstate travel, or appear to restrict access to the courts are also subject to this level of analysis.

16. Intermediate Scrutiny • Classifications based on gender and illegitimacy (birth to an unmarried mother). • Governments that distinguish between groups because of gender or illegitimacy must prove that the laws are “substantially related to an important government purpose”

17. Rational Basis • All other laws that create classifications, including those based on wealth, disability, and age, are presumed to be constitutional. • Courts presume that the deliberative process that legislatures use to enact laws ensures their “rationality”.

18. What Do You Think? • What level of judicial scrutiny should apply in the following situations? Please be able to explain your reasoning in light of the criteria described regarding each level of scrutiny. • Key to remember is the 14th Amendments’ equal protection clause applies only to the states. • Both due process and equal protection standards require government to treat people fairly.

19. Situations • Rejecting an 85 pound women from admission to the firefighters academy. • Requiring drivers over age 75 to take an annual drivers exam. • Disqualifying a female student in a public high school from participating on the boys wrestling team. • Refusing to put elevators in a county courthouse. • Incarcerating homeless persons with documented mental disabilities.

20. “Equal Protection” Cases • Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) • Segregation by race does not violate the equal protection clause as long as the separate facilities were equal • “separate but equal” doctrine • Allowed states to continue racial segregation • Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) • “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” • Overturned Plessy decision • Outlawed segregation in every state • Not followed in some southern states until forced by federal troops

21. Civil Rights Movement • African Americans fought to have the 14th Amendment enforced in the 1950’s • Wanted to “fulfill the promise of the Constitution” • Court cases (Brown vs. Board) • Used 1st Amendment rights • Speech • Religion • Press • Assembly • Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 • Voting Rights Act passed in 1965

22. In each category below, place the groups in order, based on how much POWER you think they have in our country today. What is the reason some groups have more power than others in our country? AGES 18-24 year-olds 25-44 year-olds 45 and older Thinking & Action • RACE • White • Black • Hispanic • Asian • EDUCATION • Less than high school • High School graduates • 1-3 years of college • College graduates

23. Unit #3 Follow-Ups • How does the 14th Amendment specifically address the problems faced by African-Americans before the Civil War? • How did ratification of the 14th Amendment reflect the failure of the original Constitution to achieve the goals stated in the Preamble? • Has incorporation undermined the Anti-Federalists’ desire to protect state sovereignty through a Bill of Rights? • The impact of the 14th Amendment did not really take effect until the 1920’s. Why do you think it took so long for the Amendment to take effect? • In your opinion, is Affirmative Action consistent or inconsistent with both the principles and the literal words of the 14th Amendment? Explain your position. • The words “substantive” due process are nowhere to be found in the literal language of the Constitution nor within the debates of the framers. Given that, is there any legitimate constitutional basis for protecting “substantive” due process?

24. Unit #3 Follow-Ups • Does a state, under our social contract and constitutional system, have a right to secede from the union? Why or why not? • Is there a right to privacy under our constitutional system of law? If so, where do you find this right? • Are political parties a means that unite the American people or are they “instruments of discord and dissension” which divide us as citizens? Explain your answer. • Why is it that third parties have never really caught on in America’s political culture? Do you see that changing in the near future? • Could America’s constitutional democracy survive without political parties? Why or why not?

25. Unit #3 Follow-Ups • Is voting in your opinion a fundamental right? If so, then how do we justify denying anyone the right to vote? • Given that we are a republic and not a direct democracy, does low voter turnout really undermine American democracy? Explain your answer. • Since the founding period, we have expanded the vote to include all adult (over 16) Americans who are not institutionalized. Is there any necessity to expand voting rights to any other group or to change federal voting laws? • Why did women argue that the 14th Amendment gave them the right to vote? How did the Supreme Court counter their argument? • What reasoning supported tying the vote to property ownership? Do you agree or disagree with that reasoning?

26. Unit #3 Follow-Ups • Is Judicial Review necessary to having a Constitutional Republic? Why or why not? • Brutus, in his 15th paper argued that the Framers had established a system which would lead to Judicial tyranny. Was he correct? Why or why not? • Explain Chief Justice John Marshall’s rationale behind the Marbury decision which legitimized the authority of Judicial Review. Was Marshall right given that the term judicial review is not mentioned in the Constitution? • Some judicial experts believe that the debate over the method of interpretation, i.e., judicial activism is a political debate, not a constitutional debate. They cite that there is not mentioning within the founding documents of guidelines to how Justices should interpret the Constitution. Do you agree with these critics? Why or why not? • Thomas Jefferson believed that both the Executive and Legislative Branches had the equal power to interpret the Constitution as the Judiciary. Do you agree? Why or why not? • Some critics argue that the Supreme Court is a body with no effective checks on power. Do you agree with these critics? Why or why not?