DOCSLIB.ORG

The Supreme Court Gets It Wrong (Again): the Civil Rights Cases

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Supreme Court Gets It Wrong (Again): the Civil Rights Cases Federal Bar Council Quarterly Mar./Apr./May 2021 26 Legal History by Massachusetts Senator Charles than any previous Reconstruction Sumner in 1870. Initially designed legislation.” At the same time, how- The Supreme Court to “protect all citizens in their civil ever, it also was an example of the and legal rights” across every Republican Party’s loss of appetite Gets It Wrong (Again): conceivable aspect of civilian life, for governmental interference in and The Civil Rights Cases Sumner’s bill went nowhere. In suc- control of the day-to-day oversight cessive congressional sessions, the of Southern affairs: enforcement By C. Evan Stewart re-introduced legislation got watered of the law would primarily be in down – ultimately eliminating all the hands of former slaves seeking references to schools, churches, redress in federal court. cemeteries, etc. – leaving protection only for places of “public accom- Public Accommodation modation.” Notwithstanding, the and the Supreme Court legislation remained bottled up in Congress; and Sumner died in As historian John Hope Franklin March of 1874. has written, the Civil Rights Act of The congressional election of 1875 did not amount to much in 1874 was a historic disaster for the practice. Public opinion (in both Republican party – in some part sections of the country) was op- By 1875, the federal government’s because it was a referendum on posed to the law, and there were efforts to compel the Southern States Sumner’s proposed bill. Returning not that many court cases brought. that fought the Civil War to grant for- to a lame-duck session of Congress Nonetheless, by the early 1880s, mer slaves even a modicum of “life, in December 1974 were 100 Re- five separate cases did make their liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” publican Congressmen (including way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. were coming to a disastrous conclusion. Butler) who had been defeated at Challenging hotels, theaters, and Mainly because of Southern whites’ the polls – the entire House at that railroads for discriminatory treat- intransigence (and widespread acts of time had only 273 members. Appar- ment, the five cases U.S.( v Stanley; terrorism against African-Americans ently with many legislators now not U.S. v. Ryan; U.S. v. Nichols; U.S. who sought to live as free men, vote, fearing their constituents’ wrath, the v. Singleton; and Robinson v. Mem- etc.), and partly because of weariness public accommodation law moved phis & Charleston Railroad) were on the part of the Northern popula- toward passage, also in large part consolidated together as the Civil tion, the Reconstruction Era was thanks to parliamentary maneuver- Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883). on its last legs. In a final legislative ing in the House by Speaker James Writing for the Court’s majority gasp at doing something, Congress- G. Blaine and Congressman (and was Justice Joseph P. Bradley. This man Benjamin Butler (a/k/a “Beast future President) James A. Garfield. was significant because, although he Butler” – his nickname stemming The bill passed the House on dissented from the Slaughterhouse from his oversight of New Orleans February 4, 1875 (by a 162-100 Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873) during the Civil War) introduced the vote) and the Senate on February (the Privileges and Immunities Clause Civil Rights Act of 1875. 27th (by a 38-26 vote). President of the 14th Amendment was held U. S. Grant signed the legislation to protect only federal citizenship The Origins and Passage into law on March 1. The new law, rights, not those relating to state of the Civil Rights Act on the one hand, represented (in the citizenship), Bradley had firsthand words of historian Eric Foner) “an judicial experience with the Colfax Butler’s legislative proposal unprecedented exercise of national massacre of 1873 (what historian had its direct antecedent in the authority, and breached traditional Eric Foner has described as “the civil rights legislation first offered federalist principles more fully bloodiest single act of carnage in 27 Mar./Apr./May 2021 Federal Bar Council Quarterly all of Reconstruction” – 60 African- the States” from depriving citizens Harlan began his dissent by Americans were killed at a political of due process or equal protection. observing “that the substance and rally in Louisiana by a white mob). Nothing gave Congress the authority spirit of the recent amendments of Presiding at a second trial of the to govern the conduct (discrimina- the Constitution have been sacrificed accused conspirators as a federal tory or otherwise) of individuals: by a subtle and ingenious verbal circuit judge for the Fifth Circuit, “Can the act of a mere individual, criticism.” In his view, the Court Bradley dismissed the convictions, the owner of an inn, . refusing an had “departed from the familiar rule ruling (among other things) that accommodation, be justly regarded requiring, in the interpretation of the charges violated the state ac- as imposing a badge of slavery or constitutional provisions, that full tion doctrine and failed to prove servitude upon the applicant, or only effect be given to the intent with a racial motive for the slaughter. as inflicting an ordinary civil injury, which they were adopted.” On appeal to the Supreme Court properly cognizable by the laws of According to Harlan, the 13th as United States v. Cruickshank, the State and presumably subject to and 14th Amendments gave Con- 92 U.S. 542 (1876), the Court af- redress by these laws until the contrary gress the authority to enact laws to firmed Bradley’s dismissal, holding appears? . [W]e are forced to the protect people from deprivations “on that the Enforcement Act of 1870 conclusion that such an act of refusal account of their race, of any civil (the Congressional statute utilized has nothing to do with slavery or rights enjoyed by other freemen.” to prosecute) applied (via the 14th involuntary servitude. It would With respect to the state action ar- Amendment) only to state action and be running the slavery argument into gument, Harlan demonstrated that, not to acts of private individuals (the the ground to make it apply to every by the Court’s own jurisprudence, Court also ruled that the First and act of discrimination which a person railroads, theaters, and inns operated Second Amendments did not apply may see fit to make as to guests he under the color of state law. With to the acts of state governments or will entertain . or deal with in other the Court ignoring those decisions individuals). This decision opened matters of intercourse or business.” and rejecting the usual “broad the door in the South to heightened Former slaves, Bradley reasoned, and liberal connection” given to terrorism that suppressed black vot- had achieved the “rank of mere constitutional provisions, that left ing, forced Republicans from office, citizens”; they were not entitled “to “the civil rights under discussion and ultimately put in place solid be the special favorite of the laws.” [of African-Americans] practically Democratic state legislatures. (See And since “[m]ere discriminations at the mercy of corporations and Bennette Kramer’s “The Origins of on account of race or color were not individuals wielding power under Jim Crow,” Federal Bar Council regarded as badges of slavery [by public authority.” Harlan concluded News (November 2020).) free African-Americans before the presciently: “Today it is the colored At the outset of the Civil Rights Civil War],” there was no reason to race which is denied, by corpora- opinion, Bradley declared that “[i]t view them as “badges” now. tions and individuals wielding public is obvious that the primary and im- Just as the foregoing language authority, rights fundamental in their portant question in all the cases is prefigures/foreshadows the Court’s freedom and citizenship. At some the constitutionality of the law, for if even more odious ruling in Plessy future time it may be some other the law is unconstitutional, none of v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) race that will fall under the ban.” the prosecutions can stand.” After an (see “Another Awful Decision by the extensive discussion, he ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court,” Federal Bar Postscripts Civil Rights Act of 1875 was indeed Council Quarterly (August 2016)), “unconstitutional and void.” In Butler’s as in Plessy the single dissent came • The Civil Rights Cases fed the view (on behalf of himself and seven from Justice John Marshall Harlan, fire started by Cruikshank and other Justices), the 13th Amendment the only Southerner on the Court soon the Southern States had “simply abolished slavery”; and the and a former slaveholder (Bradley codified a system of economic 14th Amendment only “prohibited was from New Jersey). and social discrimination that Federal Bar Council Quarterly Mar./Apr./May 2021 28 the Supreme Court officially Motel v. United States, 379 U.S. • Besides his role in effectively blessed in Plessy. Amazingly, 241 (1964). nullifying the 14th Amendment the Court’s Civil Rights ruling • The starting point for anyone (at least in the 19th and early 20th has never been overturned, and wanting to know more about the centuries) (the Ku Klux Klan its analysis on the reach of the Reconstruction Era is Profes- and the Knights of the White 14th Amendment was re-affirmed sor Foner’s magisterial work: Camelia publicly thanked Justice in United States v. Morrison, “Reconstruction: America’s Bradley for his jurisprudential 529 U.S. 598 (2000). While the Unfinished Revolution (1863 - work), Bradley is best known Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned 1877)” (Harper & Row 1988). to history as the deciding vote discrimination in public accom- Professor Franklin’s article in the 1876 Electoral Commis- modations, it was found to be on the Civil Rights Act is: sion that voted (8-7) to rule constitutional because the law “The Enforcement of the Civil that Rutherford B.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Supreme Court Merits Stage Amicus Brief
    i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................... iii INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ..............................1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT...................................2 ARGUMENT .............................................................4 I. THE PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES CLAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT PROTECTS SUBSTANTIVE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AGAINST STATE INFRINGEMENT…………………....4 A. Crafted Against A Backdrop Of Rights- Suppression In The South, The Privileges Or Immunities Clause Was Written To Protect Substantive Fundamental Rights……………………………………………4 B. By 1866, The Public Meaning Of “Privileges” And “Immunities” Included Fundamental Rights………………………….8 C. The Congressional Debates Over The Fourteenth Amendment Show That The Privileges Or Immunities Clause Encompassed Substantive Fundamental Rights, Including The Personal Rights In The Bill Of Rights……………………………14 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS—continued D. The Wording Of The Privileges Or Immunities Clause Is Broader Than The Privileges And Immunities Clause Of Article IV…………………………………….. 21 II. THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT’S PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES CLAUSE INCLUDED AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS…………………………………. 24 III. PRECEDENT DOES NOT PREVENT THE COURT FROM RECOGNIZING THAT THE PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES CLAUSE PROTECTS AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AGAINST STATE INFRINGEMENT…………………………... 29 A. Slaughter-House And Its Progeny Were Wrong As A Matter Of Text And History And Have Been Completely Undermined
    [Show full text]
  • The Archaeological Importance of the Black Towns in the American West and Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions of Blackness
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2012 I'm Really Just an American: The Archaeological Importance of the Black Towns in the American West and Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions of Blackness Shea Aisha Winsett College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, African History Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Winsett, Shea Aisha, "I'm Really Just an American: The Archaeological Importance of the Black Towns in the American West and Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions of Blackness" (2012). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626687. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-tesy-ns27 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I’m Really Just An American: The Archaeological Importance of the Black Towns in the American West and Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions of Blackness Shea Aisha Winsett Hyattsville, Maryland Bachelors of Arts, Oberlin College, 2008 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department
    [Show full text]
  • The Creation and Destruction of the Fourteenth Amendment Duringthe Long Civil War
    Louisiana Law Review Volume 79 Number 1 The Fourteenth Amendment: 150 Years Later Article 9 A Symposium of the Louisiana Law Review Fall 2018 1-24-2019 The Creation and Destruction of the Fourteenth Amendment Duringthe Long Civil War Orville Vernon Burton Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev Part of the Law Commons Repository Citation Orville Vernon Burton, The Creation and Destruction of the Fourteenth Amendment Duringthe Long Civil War, 79 La. L. Rev. (2019) Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol79/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Creation and Destruction of the Fourteenth Amendment During the Long Civil War * Orville Vernon Burton TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................. 190 I. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the “New Birth of Freedom” ............................................................. 192 A. Lincoln’s Beliefs Before the War .......................................... 193 B. Heading into Reconstruction ................................................. 195 II. The Three Reconstruction Amendments ...................................... 196 A. The Thirteenth Amendment .................................................. 197 B. The South’s
    [Show full text]
  • A War All Our Own: American Rangers and the Emergence of the American Martial Culture
    A War All Our Own: American Rangers and the Emergence of the American Martial Culture by James Sandy, M.A. A Dissertation In HISTORY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY Approved Dr. John R. Milam Chair of Committee Dr. Laura Calkins Dr. Barton Myers Dr. Aliza Wong Mark Sheridan, PhD. Dean of the Graduate School May, 2016 Copyright 2016, James Sandy Texas Tech University, James A. Sandy, May 2016 Acknowledgments This work would not have been possible without the constant encouragement and tutelage of my committee. They provided the inspiration for me to start this project, and guided me along the way as I slowly molded a very raw idea into the finished product here. Dr. Laura Calkins witnessed the birth of this project in my very first graduate class and has assisted me along every step of the way from raw idea to thesis to completed dissertation. Dr. Calkins has been and will continue to be invaluable mentor and friend throughout my career. Dr. Aliza Wong expanded my mind and horizons during a summer session course on Cultural Theory, which inspired a great deal of the theoretical framework of this work. As a co-chair of my committee, Dr. Barton Myers pushed both the project and myself further and harder than anyone else. The vast scope that this work encompasses proved to be my biggest challenge, but has come out as this works’ greatest strength and defining characteristic. I cannot thank Dr. Myers enough for pushing me out of my comfort zone, and for always providing the firmest yet most encouraging feedback.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORICAL ARGUMENTATION… African Americans in the Civil War (See Writing Guidelines in Your Binder for Formula)
    Name:_______________________________________________________________ Class Period:____ APUSH Unit 4, College Board Period 5 HISTORICAL ARGUMENTATION… African Americans in the Civil War (see writing guidelines in your binder for formula) Step #1 Read the question or prompt carefully: Read the question three times and be able to paraphrase the question and know the essential task demanded by it. Answering the question will be the central focus of your essay, and you want to be sure to ATFP: Address The Full Prompt. Prompt: In what ways and to what extent did African American efforts during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras maintain continuity or foster change? Confine your answer to the years 1861-1870. Step #2 Brainstorm on paper everything that comes to mind regarding the topic at hand. Review the timeline on the back of this page for additional review, but do not depend solely on the timeline. Aim for at least 10 specific things. What do you know about the topic? Put this down on paper to get your brain in gear for writing the essay. Once you have amble information, categorize it by theme. (ABC) 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. Step #3 Clarify your thesis/view and identify an opposing view. Make sure your thesis ATFP! Don’t restate the prompt! Y: X: Step #4 Write your introductory paragraph. USE THE FORMULA Historical Analysis Activity written by Rebecca Richardson, Allen High School using the 2012 College Board APUSH Framework and an adaption of a 2009 College Board released exam Name:_______________________________________________________________ Class Period:____ APUSH Unit 4, College Board Period 5 1861 -Civil War erupts at Fort Sumter.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstruction” in May 1865
    Andrew Johnson: 1. Vice President under Abraham Lincoln a. Become president following Lincoln assassination 2. Political career began in Tennessee a. Governor b. Congressman c. U. S. Senator d. Vice President e. President 3. He was the only senator from a Confederate state that remained loyal to the Union. a. Other southern senators saw him as a traitor to his region 4. Supported abolition a. Former slave owner 5. Favored strong state rights 6. Hated wealthy planters from the south a. He held them responsible for dragging poor whites into a civil war 7. Did not favor former slaves gaining voting rights 8. He originally endorsed a harsh punishment for Confederate leaders a. As president he had to decide the fate of Confederate leaders i. Punish? ii. Pardon? 9. Had the job of how to bring Confederate states back into the Union. a. Announced his “Presidential Plan for Reconstruction” in May 1865. i. Remaining Confederate states could be readmitted to the Union after meeting certain conditions. 1. Withdraw its secession 2. Swear an allegiance to the Union 3. Annul Confederate war debts 4. Ratify the 13th Amendment a. Abolition of slavery 10. His plan had some proponents different from Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan a. Wanted to prevent most high‐ranking Confederates and wealthy southern landowners from taking the oath needed to satisfy privileges b. Failed to address the needs of former slaves i. Land ii. Voting rights iii. Protection under the law. 11. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act and the Freedman’s Bureau Act which ended his Presidential Reconstruction.
    [Show full text]
  • Bk12c - the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877)
    bk12C - The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Why was a plan for Reconstruction of the South needed? A The Lincoln administration did not want to readmit the Confederate states to the Union. B Many new citizens had joined the nation during the war. C The Constitution provided no guidance on secession or readmission of states. D The Southern economy had grown, and Northern states wanted to share the prosperity. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: moderate REF: S.403 OBJ: S.12.1.1|O.5.1.1|N.8.1.1 NAT: S.12.1.1 TOP: history | Reconstruction 2. Which idea was a part of Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction? A The Southern states had never really left the Union. B African Americans should be guaranteed social equality. C Former Confederates should not be compensated for lost property. D State governments must grant African Americans the right to vote. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: moderate REF: S.404 OBJ: S.12.1.2|O.5.1.2|N.8.1.2 NAT: S.12.1.2 STA: 3.I.A.1|3.1.A.2 TOP: impact of individual | Abraham Lincoln 3. The Ten Percent Plan required that A ten percent of a state’s voters take a loyalty oath to the Union. B state legislatures set aside ten percent of their seats for African Americans. C Southern landowners give ten percent of their land to freed men. D the South pay ten percent of the Union’s war costs. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: moderate REF: S.403 OBJ: S.12.1.2|O.5.1.2|N.8.1.2 NAT: S.12.1.2 STA: 3.I.A.1|3.1.A.2 TOP: history | Ten Percent Plan 4.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crises of Reconstruction, 1865–1877
    16 THE CRISES OF RECONSTRUCTION, 1865–1877 CHAPTER OUTLINE • Reconstruction Politics, 1865–1868 • Reconstruction Governments • The Impact of Emancipation • New Concerns in the North, 1868–1876 • Reconstruction Abandoned, 1876–1877 RECONSTRUCTION POLITICS, 1865–1868 At the end of the Civil War, President Johnson might have exiled, imprisoned, or executed Confederate leaders and imposed martial law indefinitely. Demobilized Confederate soldiers might have continued armed resistance to federal occupation forces. Freed slaves might have taken revenge on former owners and other white southerners. But none of this occurred. Instead, intense political conflict dominated the immediate postwar years. National politics produced new constitutional amend- ments, a presidential impeachment, and some of the most ambitious domestic legis- lation ever enacted by Congress, the Reconstruction Acts of 1867–1868. The major outcome of Reconstruction politics was the enfranchisement of black men, a devel- opment that few—black or white—had expected when Lee surrendered. In 1865, only a small group of politicians supported black suffrage. All were Radical Republicans, a minority faction that had emerged during the war. Led by Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, the Radicals had clamored for the abolition of slavery and a demanding reconstruction policy. But the Radicals, outnumbered in Congress by other Republicans and opposed by the Democratic minority, faced long odds. Still, they managed to win broad Republican support for parts of their Reconstruction program, including black male enfranchisement. Just as civil war had led to eman- cipation, a goal once supported by only a minority of Americans, so Reconstruction policy became bound to black suffrage, a momentous change that originally had only narrow political backing.
    [Show full text]
  • Gangs and Organized Crime Groups
    DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JOURNAL OF FEDERAL LAW AND PRACTICE Volume 68 November 2020 Number 5 Acting Director Corey F. Ellis Editor-in-Chief Christian A. Fisanick Managing Editor E. Addison Gantt Associate Editors Gurbani Saini Philip Schneider Law Clerks Joshua Garlick Mary Harriet Moore United States The Department of Justice Journal of Department of Justice Federal Law and Practice is published by Executive Office for the Executive Office for United States United States Attorneys Attorneys Washington, DC 20530 Office of Legal Education Contributors’ opinions and 1620 Pendleton Street statements should not be Columbia, SC 29201 considered an endorsement by Cite as: EOUSA for any policy, 68 DOJ J. FED. L. & PRAC., no. 5, 2020. program, or service. Internet Address: The Department of Justice Journal https://www.justice.gov/usao/resources/ of Federal Law and Practice is journal-of-federal-law-and-practice published pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 0.22(b). Page Intentionally Left Blank Gangs & Organized Crime In This Issue Introduction....................................................................................... 1 David Jaffe Are You Maximizing Ledgers and Other Business Records in Drug and Organized Crime Investigations? ............. 3 Melissa Corradetti Jail and Prison Communications in Gang Investigations ......... 9 Scott Hull Federally Prosecuting Juvenile Gang Members........................ 15 David Jaffe & Darcie McElwee Scams-R-Us Prosecuting West African Fraud: Challenges and Solutions ................................................................................... 31 Annette Williams, Conor Mulroe, & Peter Roman Gathering Gang Evidence Overseas ............................................ 47 Christopher J. Smith, Anthony Aminoff, & Kelly Pearson Exploiting Social Media in Gang Cases ....................................... 67 Mysti Degani A Guide to Using Cooperators in Criminal Cases...................... 81 Katy Risinger & Tim Storino Novel Legal Issues in Gang Prosecutions ..................................
    [Show full text]
  • Amnesty and Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment
    MAGLIOCCA 36:1 7/6/2021 10:59 PM AMNESTY AND SECTION THREE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT Gerard N. Magliocca* No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment1 Until January 6, 2021, Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment was one of the vestigial portions of the Constitution.2 Designed to exclude many former Confederate officials and soldiers from federal or state office, Section Three was quickly neutered by Congress.3 In 1872, more than the required two-thirds of the Senate and the House of Representatives passed an Amnesty Act removing disabilities from all of the former state * Samuel R. Rosen Professor, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Thanks to Carlo Andreani, Garrett Epps, Mark Graber, Jill Hasday, Brian Kalt, Kurt Lash, and Myles Lynch for their comments on the draft. 1. U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 3. 2. By vestigial, I mean a constitutional provision that is operative but written for a specific purpose that no longer seemed relevant.
    [Show full text]
  • 50Th Anniversary of the Voting Rights
    50 YEARS LATER Commemorating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 1965 Dear Orange County Voter, We are proud to present this brochure to commemorate the historic passage of the Voting Rights Act. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, marking the 50th anniversary of this historic legislation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a milestone in national legislation that prohibits discriminatory voting practices from disenfranchising African Americans. The act makes it illegal to require eligible voters to pass literacy tests in order to register to vote. Within the same year the act was passed, the many key events took place throughout the Civil Rights Movement: Malcolm X was assassinated, the Selma to Montgomery marches occurred, the Watts riots in Los Angeles occurred, and President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 to enforce Affirmative Action for the first time. Since its initial passage, the act has expanded its reach with amendments that assist language minorities in the voting process by providing language-specific election materials to jurisdictions with large numbers of language minorities. Orange County is proud to work daily to ensure that the provisions of the Voting Rights Act are enforced – this includes engaging our diverse community through our Community Election Working Group. Details on Orange County’s efforts to safeguard this important legal protection can be found by visiting ocvote.com/vra. Neal Kelley Registrar of Voters History of the Voting Rights Act lthough the 15th Amendment granted African Americans the right to vote, there were literacy tests, poll taxes and other discriminatory requirements put in place to make it difficult for eligible citizens to Aregister to vote.
    [Show full text]
  • ' United States V. Hall' and the Battle Over the Fourteenth Amendment
    A MISSED OPPORTUNITY: UNITED STATES V HALL AND THE BATTLE OVER THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT by LORYN CLAUSON B.A., Kansas State University, 2007 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2015 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Lou Falkner Williams Copyright LORYN CLAUSON 2015 Abstract During the course of Reconstruction both the Supreme Court and the lower level federal courts faced the task of interpreting Reconstruction legislation, including the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the Enforcement Acts. By the end of Reconstruction the Supreme Court had defined these groundbreaking pieces of legislation in a conservative manner that negatively impacted the former slaves. The lower-level courts, however, had embraced earlier opportunities to broaden the nationalistic meaning of these Amendments. One such opportunity was United States v Hall. This trial level court case initially expanded the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment to protect the rights of African Americans. The Hall Case was one of the great “might have beens” in U.S. Constitutional history. This study analyzes Ku Klux Klan violence leading up to the Eutaw riot and the subsequent court case, U.S. v Hall. Conflict broke out during a pre-election political rally when Democrats and Republicans met simultaneously at the Greene County, AL, Court House. The riot resulted in the federal government’s attempts to prosecute the rioters under the Enforcement Act of 1870. The Hall case was one of the first in which federal judges interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment.
    [Show full text]