Civil Rights Flashcards
(13 cards)
- Explain and analyse three ways in which the Bill of Rights protects civil rights and liberties in the USA. P534 and your notes. June 2019.
P – First Amendment
E - Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition the government for a redress of grievances. Used to protect the following: Citizens united vs FEC (2010), Masterpiece Cakeshop V. Colorado Civil Rights – The Colorado civil rights commission had infringed on the owners right to freedom of religion.
A - – These rights are regarded with high status in American culture with America being dubbed the “land of the free” due to the many rights guaranteed in the first amendment.
P - Second Amendment
E –“The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. No federal licence is required by law, it is down to the individual states to set legal parameters. District of Columbia v Heller (2008) protected an individual’s right to bear arms
A – Still a significant issue. Despite mass school shootings including Florida and Texas 2018, it is so engrained into culture that many are opposed to reform.
P - Sixth Ammendent
E - Right to a free and fair trial. Arguably breached in Guantanamo bay
- Explain and analyse three significance of three constitutional amendments since the Bill of Rights (1791). p535 and your notes.
P - 19th Amendment – Gave women the right to vote on the same terms as men. Enfranchised 26 million American women in time for the 1920 U.S. presidential election Marked a major step in women’s rights and freedom
P – 14th Amendment - Gave former enslaved people full citizenship. One clause grants all citizens ‘equal protection’ under the law and the other states that the government cannot remove a citizen’s life or freedoms without ‘due process’. Brown V Topeka Board of Education used this amendment to end segregation.
P – 24th Amendment – Gave American’s the right to vote without paying taxes. African Americans tended to be poorer so this amendment prevented them from being disenfranchised in greater numbers.
- Explain and analyse three ways in which landmark rulings of the Supreme Court have protected civil rights and liberties in the USA. p536 and your notes. (textbook)
LOOK AT JUDICIARY NOTES
P – Brown vs Topeka Board of Education (1954)
P – Obergefell v Hodges (2015)
P – Roe V Wade (1973)
- Explain and analyse the impact of three significant civil rights cases in modern American history. p536 and your notes. (ZigZag)
P - Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023)
E – In 2023, driven by it’s conservative supermajority of 6-3, the Supreme Court ended race-conscious admissions and positive discrimination at universities across the country delivering a huge blow to the cause of greater diversity. The Conservative justices concluded that the admissions policies at Harvard and North Carolina violated the US Constitution’s equal protections law. Ketanji Brown Jackson argued this would mean it would “take longer for racism to leave us”
P - Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
E - A baker refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage as it violated his Christian beliefs. Ruled 7-2 in support of the cake maker. Freedom of religion in 1st Amendment.
P – Brown V Board of Education (1973)
- Explain and analyse three ways that pressure groups have contributed to the development of civil rights and liberties in the US. p537-539 and your notes. (textbook)
P – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
E - The USA’s oldest civil rights pressure group and today has more than half a million members. The group achieved major successes in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the civil rights movement. It lobbied Congress to pass the Civils Rights Acts and Voting Rights Acts. The NAACP led a legal campaign to end racial segregation and the legal principle of ‘separate but equal’. Its special counsel, lawyer Thurgood Marshall won the Brown V Board of Education case.
P - Students for Fair Admissions
E – A conservative pressure group who aim to restore colour blind principles to our nation’s schools, colleges and universities who represented Asian American lawsuits in the case against Harvard and won. The effect of this was that no college in the US can consider an applicants race in admission. Whilst it may seem that civil liberties were protected by this case as it outlaws discrimination (positive), the effects of this are predicted to mean less black students attending elite universities, negatively impacting their future prospects ect.
P – The American Civil Liberties Union
E - Nearly 300 lawyers who defend civil liberties in the courts. It has affiliates in every state and is involved in more US Supreme Court cases than any other non-governmental organisation. The ACLU has defended the rights of individuals against private employers. In R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (2020) it defended a woman who was fired for being transgender, leading to the landmark Supreme Court ruling that discrimination on the grounds of gender orientation is unconstitutional. Further, The ACLU’s General Counsel Norman Dorsen was part of a team of lawyers representing the plaintiffs in Roe v. Wade
A - It argues that every individual must have their rights protected so has defended white supremacist groups such as American Nazi’s and the KKK despite these groups aiming to reduce the civil rights of others.
- Explain and analyse three ways in which social movements have promoted the rights of their supporters. p539 and your notes.
P – Black Lives Matter Movement and protests
E – Anti-racism demonstrations. This influential social movement began in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted for shooting dead unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter started trending on Twitter. Experienced a resurgence after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. An estimated 23 million people attending demonstrations across the country, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Some protests included rioting, looting, arson and violence against the police. The authorities responded with curfews, tear gas, smoke grenades and rubber bullets, while Trump threatened to send in the military, a response widely condemned as inflammatory. As a result, plans for police reform were outlined, crowds toppled statues of figures connected to slavery and colonialism, and the use of the Confederate flag was banned in the US Navy
P –MeToo movement and social media
E – Survivors of sexual violence used the hashtag #metoo to raise awareness about the large scale of sexual assault and harassment. More than 2.3 million #MeToo tweets from 85 countries
P – Anti-lockdown movement and threats of violence
E - During the COVID-19 crisis, a number of state-based social movements sprang up in protest against the lockdown. Protesters argued that state governors’ stay-at-home orders violated their constitutional civil liberties. Protesters breached lockdown rules to attend crowded demonstrations in state capitals, many carrying guns. In April 2020, armed protesters even entered the Capitol in Michigan, and in October 2020 the FBI arrested members of a militia who were planning to kidnap Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
- Explain and analyse the impact three ways in which civil rights movement campaigned to challenge racial discrimination. p541 and your notes.
P – Through litigation/legal challenges
E – Key pressure groups such as the NAACP challenge unjust federal, state and local statutes, fight against discriminatory policies, practices and procedures, as well as stand up against unlawful misconduct by public officers, private individuals, and companies that threaten civil rights within courts. Through its Legal Defence and Educational Fund, it funded Brown V Board of Education and Its special counsel, lawyer Thurgood Marshall won the case.
P – Protests and Marches
E – In 1963, about 250,000 people participated in the March on Washington, in which Martin Luther King gave his famous 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech. This articulated a vision of a world in which people would be judged ‘not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’.
P – Non-violent civil disobedience
E - Sit ins and bus boycotts. Montgomery Bus Boycott - In December 1955, Rosa Parks was returning home from work on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Segregation laws in Montgomery stated that when a bus was full the black passengers must stand and give their seat to a white passenger. Parks refused to give up her seat and was subsequently arrested sparking the Montgomery bus boycott, a 13-month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional.
- Explain and analyse three ways in which racial discrimination impacts on minorities in the US. p540-546 and your notes.
P – Voting rights
E - More than 25 states have introduced voter restrictions since 2010, including strict voter photo identification requirements. Hispanics and African-Americans are less likely to have the required identification, so their turnout has fallen in states with strict voter identification laws, while white turnout has hardly been affected.
P – Incarceration rates
E - The incarceration rate for African-Americans is more than five times that of white people. One explanation is that there is a higher rate of crime among African Americans - some sociologists have suggested that this may be because African-Americans are also more likely to be socio economically disadvantaged. However, the difference in crime rates does not fully explain the difference in incarceration rates. Although African-Americans and white Americans both use drugs at a similar rate, African-Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated for drug charges. This all suggests that the law is not being applied equally.
P – Felony Disenfranchisement
E - All but two US states prohibit people convicted of a felony (a serious crime) from voting, the majority of states deny the vote to people on probation or parole, and 11 states extend this ban until after the sentence, probation and parole periods have ended. Thus, African-Americans’ disproportionately high rate of incarceration has an important impact on voting. By 2016, 1 in every 13 African Americans of voting age was no longer eligible to vote because of a previous criminal conviction.
P – Affected by racially motivated violence
E – 1/3rd people killed by police are black. Whilst black males aged 15-24 make up only 2% of the US population, they represented 15% people killed by serving police officers. High profile case of George Floyd. An officer had a knee on his neck for nearly 9 minutes after suspecting him of using a fake note, despite him saying “I can’t breathe” and being unarmed.
A – Led people to unite around the phrase Black Lives Matter and triggered a global social movement.
- Explain and analyse three ways in which the Alt-Right poses a threat to democracy. p545-546 and your notes.
P – Through its use of terrorism
E - Far-right extremists and white supremacists were responsible for two-thirds of terrorist activity in the USA in 2020. 50 people were killed by the far right in 2018. In 2015 nine African-Americans were killed in a shooting massacre at their church in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2018 the NAACP wrote to the House Committee on Homeland Security to highlight the danger posed to African-Americans by domestic terrorism, and held an emergency tele-town hall on the issue in 2019.
P – Their association with key political figures
E - Trump’s association with some leading Alt-Right figures quickly led to fears that civil rights were at risk under his administration. His failure to condemn the far right after a liberal protester was killed at a ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville in 2017 was widely criticised, as was his tweet ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
P – Threatening multiple minority groups
E – Not just African American community affected. Hispanics have been targeted since Trump identified stopping illegal immigration from Mexico as a major policy priority. In 2018 and 2019 Jews were targeted in two synagogue shootings that killed a total of 12 people. Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 150% in large cities in the USA in 2020.
Swastikas and confederate flags were on display when armed militia members entered the Michigan Capitol in April 2020, and again in January 2021 when a mob attempted to take over the US Capitol
- Explain and analyse three ways that structural theory could be used to study the similarities and differences regarding the protection of civil rights in the UK and USA. P549-556 and your notes. (textbook)
P – Differences in the protections offered by the constitution
E – The UK constitution is uncodified meaning parliament can add, amend or remove rights as it pleases however, the US Constitution is codified and thus it’s rights are more securely protected. For example, the Human Rights Act which incorporated most of the articles of the ECHR into UK law can be repealed by a simple majority of any future parliament whilst the Bill of Rights in the US which includes freedom of religion, speech, and gun rights would require a formal amendment to remove.
P – Legislation can provide protection of civil rights
E – The Equality Act 2010 in the UK brought together around 116 individual measures into a single Act to combat discrimination and promote a fairer society. Among the areas and characteristics protected were race, gender, disability and sexual orientation. In the US, the Civil Rights Act 1964 banned racial discrimination in voting. It prohibited voting restrictions such as the literacy tests used to prevent African-Americans from exercising their right to vote.
P – Protection of civil rights through the Supreme Court
E – The USA and the UK have independent judiciaries who can defend the rights of citizens against the government. Reille V Secretary of State for Work and Pensions declared ultra vires for some aspects on the “welfare to work” scheme as Reilley had argued it infringed on her right to be protected against slavery. Similarly in the US, Roe Vs Wade (1973) ruled bans on abortion compromised the rights of a women under the 14th Amendment. However, whilst the US Supreme Court can strike down legislation that infringes citizens’ constitutional rights. The UK Supreme Court can only declare an Act of Parliament incompatible with the HRA. This has resulted in the US judiciary making landmark rulings that effectively act as ‘interpretative amendments’ to the Constitution.
- Explain and analyse three ways that rational theory could be used to study the methods used by civil rights campaigns in the UK and USA. p549-556 and your notes.(textbook)
P – Use of the courts
E – In the UK, pressure groups such as For Women’s Scotland who claim to aim to protect the civil rights of biological women have used the courts to get their desired outcome. Took the Scottish government to court. For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers - The UK Supreme Court rules that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. However, in the US the legal route is taken more frequently as they can strike down government laws and make interpretative amendments. The NAACP funded Brown vs Topeka (1954) and the ACLU brought the legal case of Obergefell vs Hodges (2015)
P – Violent Direct Action such as rallies and marches
E – Can be seen in both countries through BLM. Also in the UK through the suffragists who used peaceful protest methods such as petitions, marches etc. to demand for equal votes for men and women and the suffragettes who used more militant approach, often chained themselves to railings and went on hunger strikes when imprisoned. Marches and rallied often used in the civil rights movement - African-American protesters used ‘sit-ins’ in segregated ‘white-only’ areas, and bus boycotts to put pressure on bus companies to desegregate their buses. In 1963, 250,000 people attended the historic ‘March on Washington’
P – Finances
E – In the US, civil rights groups who use finances are more likely to achieve their aims as there are tighter regulations of campaign finance in the UK. The National Rifle Association spent $30 million promoting Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
- Explain and analyse three ways that cultural theory could be used to study the debates about civil rights issues in the UK and USA. p549-556 and your notes. (textbook)
P - Religious groups are much more prominent in US culture, meaning that rights with religious implications are more controversial
E - Some religious groups feel their rights are threatened by liberal policies that condone behaviours contrary to their beliefs
P – A culture of pluralism allows pressure groups to campaign for rights and liberties.
P – Culture of gun rights in America
E - Debate about second amendment rights in the US much larger.
P – The culture of both countries can be problematic for minority groups
E - Campaigners for racial equality emphasise the racism, microaggressions, prejudice and unconscious bias experienced by people of colour in both the USA and the UK. This has included police violence such as The 2020 murder of George Floyd, an African American, by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for 9 minutes 29 seconds in the US and death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in London in 2011 by police.
- ‘Civil rights and liberties are more effectively promoted and protected in the US than the UK.’ Analyse and evaluate this statement. (June 2022)
P1 – US Judiciary more effective at protecting civil rights than the UK Judiciary. This is because of the codified constitution which the court can use as grounds for striking down legislation or creating new ‘interpretive amendment’ by interpreting the text, giving it power to protect civil rights. Roe v Wade effectively created the right to an abortion using the 14th amendment, and struck down segregation in Brown V Board Of Education. In the UK, parliament is sovereign and the constitution is uncodifies meaning it is impossible for them to strike down legislation and cannot make interpretive amendments. The UK courts can issue Declarations of Incompatibility with the Human Rights Act1998 for legislation they deem to have violated the terms of the bill. For example, the Anti-terror and Crime bill 2001 was declared incompatible with the HRA because they asserted the detention of foreign terror suspects without trial break human rights laws – HOWEVER, the government passed retrospective legislation in the form of the Prevention of Terror bill 2004 which legalised their earlier actions and undermined the courts attempts at protecting civil rights.
P – UK Legislature more effective at protecting civil rights than US Legislature. Parliament has sovereignty in the UK so a government with a strong majority can protect civil rights with a single act of congress. This was seen in the Abortion Act 1967 or the Same Sex Marriage Act 2013. These acts are still effective and in place. Further, they extended rights through the Human Rights Act (1998) which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic law. In contrast, US Congress is weaker and often divided, making the passage of civil rights legislation much harder. The most notable act passed by Congress was The Civil Rights Act 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin. However, congressional acts are subject to checks and balances such as the judiciary or executive veto, making it vulnerable to be overturned.
P – US Pressure groups more effective at protecting civil rights than UK Pressure Groups. The ability of pressure groups to exert their influence through lobbying and electioneering is upheld the in the US Constitution 1st Amendment (right to expression of freedom) and under the landmark case of Citizens United bs FEC which ruled these methods as political expression. Political TV ads are banned and many pressure groups are registered charities so have tight restrictions on political donations. During general elections, pressure groups can spend a maximum of £320,000. In 2013 Obama’s gun reforms after 2012 Sandy Hooks shooting were filibustered in the Senate by Republicans under the influence of the NRA. This meant the NRA could defend the civil rights of gun owners through it’s close associations with the government. Tight UK electoral finance laws and a stronger party whip system mean that MPs are less likely to be influenced by lobbying.
