WGU C963 American Politics and the U.S. Constitution. All Sections covered, Accurate, graded A+

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WGU C963 American Politics and the U.S. Constitution. All Sections covered, Accurate, graded A+ Civil rights - ✔✔-The basic right to be free from unequal treatment, are based on certain prote... cted characteristics, such as race, gender, and disability, and in settings such as employment, education, housing, and access to public facilities. If you believe that the government is supposed to be doing something, then it is a right. Rights are prescriptions of government power. equality of treatment - ✔✔-This is a requirement that the government, in dealing with people, treat them all the same. In other words, no favorites, no special treatment. Fifteenth Amendment - ✔✔-Voting cannot be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. (1870) Essentially, this Amendment grants newly freed African American males the right to vote. Seventeenth Amendment - ✔✔-Popular election of U.S. senators Nineteenth Amendment - ✔✔-Voting cannot be denied because of sex. (1920) Twenty-Third Amendment - ✔✔-Citizens of the District of Columbia are permitted to vote for presidential electors Twenty-Fourth Amendment - ✔✔-Voting cannot be denied for failure to pay a poll tax or any other tax. (1964) Twenty-Sixth Amendment - ✔✔-Voting cannot be denied because of age. No voter denied who is 18 years or older. (1971) Civil Liberties - ✔✔-If you believe that the government is supposed to leave you alone, then it's a liberty. Liberties are proscriptions on government power. Also an expression of the social contract and are protected under the Constitution. Limitations on government power, intended to protect freedoms that governments may not legally intrude on. Something that is important in defining your identity, allowing you the freedom to determine what your life will be like, and granting you the ability to express yourself. All of these you can do without interference from others. discrimination - ✔✔-Actions which fail to give the equal treatment demanded by civil rights (and the Fourteenth Amendment). The differential treatment of groups based on characteristics they possess. While equal treatment is a constitutional requirement, it's important to recognize that discrimination is allowable under the Constitution, on something of a sliding scale, depending on who the target of the discrimination is, why the discrimination exists, and to what extent the discrimination negatively impacts its target. Within the context of discrimination that is allowed, however, all similarly situated people must be treated the same. Thirteenth Amendment - ✔✔-abolished slavery. (1865) an exception: Persons duly convicted of a crime can be made to labor without pay. Fourteen Amendment - ✔✔-African American Citizenship. (1868) Perhaps the most important constitutional amendment ever. This importance comes from the amendment's formal definition of national citizenship and its requirement that states respect the "privileges or immunities" of this citizenship. These privileges or immunities include the due process of law, and the equal protection of the law. This Amendment requires, over time, that states respect your rights under the Constitution—in particular those appearing in the Bill of Rights (through a process known as "selective incorporation"). Chances are that if a Supreme Court decision mandates civil rights protections, that decision rests on the Fourteenth Amendment. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) - ✔✔-This law, passed in 1967, prohibits discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Age Discrimination Act of 1975 - ✔✔-This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in programs and activities that receive federal assistance, such as in education, healthcare, housing, and rehabilitation programs. Civil Rights Act of 1957 - ✔✔-This law prohibits the intimidation, coercion, or interference with the rights of persons voting for president or members of Congress on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin. Civil Rights Act of 1964 - ✔✔-This law outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It also prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. Voting Rights Act of 1965 - ✔✔-This law prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It gave greater power to the federal government to oversee state elections. This law banned literacy and understanding tests, and any other device used to discriminate against voter registration on the basis of race. Federal oversight and protection lasted until the Supreme Court, in Shelby County v. Holder, ruled key provisions of an updated version of the Act unconstitutional. Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) - ✔✔-This law requires equal housing opportunities regardless of race, religion, or national origin. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - ✔✔-This law extended civil rights to people with disabilities, in particular regarding education and employment. It allows for the reasonable accommodation of such persons. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - ✔✔-This law, passed in 1990, prohibited discrimination based on disability, required employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, and created accessibility requirements for public accommodations. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 - ✔✔-This law made it illegal to pay different wages to men and women who perform equal work in the same workplace. (This law was reinforced by the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - ✔✔-This law made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. It also made illegal retaliation against a person who complains about such discrimination. Title IX (Education Amendments of 1972) - ✔✔-This law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 - ✔✔-This law made it illegal to discriminate against women because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Scrutiny - ✔✔-The type of attention the [Supreme] Court will give to a question or issue, or the position in which the Court starts out when considering a question of discrimination. The Court takes a different approach depending on who is impacted by the discrimination, what the severity of the discrimination is, and what the justification is of the discrimination. rational basis test - ✔✔-used in most cases of discrimination, the government has to demonstrate only that it has a good reason for engaging in it. Unless the person or group challenging the law can prove otherwise, the courts will generally decide the discriminatory practice is allowed. That is, as long as there's a reason for treating some people differently that is "rationally related to a legitimate government interest," the discriminatory act or law or policy is acceptable. Under this type of scrutiny, those challenging the law bear the burden of proving the discrimination is unwarranted, which means the courts start off by giving the government the benefit of the doubt. Intermediate scrutiny - ✔✔-comes into play when discrimination is based on gender or sex. The standard of intermediate scrutiny was first applied by the Supreme Court in Craig v. Boren, and affirmed in Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan. This scrutiny requires the government to demonstrate that treating men and women differently is "substantially related to an important governmental objective." Note here how the roles of challenger and government are reversed. The burden of proof for the legitimacy of the discrimination now rests with government (or whoever engages in discrimination), which has to demonstrate why the unequal treatment is justified. The courts, then, start off by giving the benefit of the doubt to the individual who alleges that unfair discrimination has taken place. Strict scrutiny - ✔✔-the highest degree of scrutiny which the Supreme Court applies in two types of cases. The first type includes cases in which a fundamental constitutional right is infringed upon, such as the freedom of speech or religion. And the second type includes cases in which government action applies to a "suspect classification," such as race or national origin. the Supreme Court not only places the burden of proof on the government to show that the discrimination is necessary—that there is a "compelling interest"—but also requires the government to show that it has "narrowly tailored" the law or policy to achieve this interest, using the "least restrictive means" available. The Supreme Court's first application of this type of scrutiny came in the case of Korematsu v. United States. Interestingly, many of the Supreme Court's most famous decisions rest on this type of scrutiny: Brown v. Board of Education prohibits segregation in public schools; Griswold v. Connecticut permits married couples the right to use birth control; and Roe v. Wade establishes the right of women to have abortions. the Dred Scott decision - ✔✔-decided that neither level of government held the power to regulate slavery. Reconstruction - ✔✔-The end of the Civil War brought about this era (1865-1877). During this time, states that rebelled were placed under military control, to be reorganized in preparation for readmission to the Union. To undermine the political power of Southern whites, the Republican Party sought the abolition of slavery, which was eventually achieved with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Slavery or involuntary servitude, henceforth, would only be permissible for those duly convicted of a crime. Plessy v. Ferguson - ✔✔-the Court established the policy of "separate but equal." Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada - ✔✔-the Supreme Court required that states that provided higher education to whites also provide similar opportunities to African Americans. (The win was partial because the Supreme Court accepted separate but equal opportunities.) Brown v. Board of Education - ✔✔-the Supreme [Show More]

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