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Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. -
13th amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
14th amendment
The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. -
15th amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". -
White Primaries
White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. -
Poll taxes
A tax levied on every adult, without reference to income or resources. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
19th amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
An action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. -
24th amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. -
Reed v. Reed
An Equal Protection case in the United States in which the Supreme Court ruled that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex; it seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice applied to the University of California Medical School at Davis. He was rejected both times. The school reserved 16 places in each entering class of 100 for "qualified" minorities, as part of the university's affirmative action program. Bakke's qualifications exceeded those of any of the minority students admitted in the two years Bakke's applications were rejected. Court said he was excluded from admission solely on the basis of race. -
Bowers v. Harwick
Michael Hardwick was observed by a Georgia police officer while engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult in the bedroom of his home. After being charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy, Hardwick challenged the law's constitutionality in Federal District Court. Following a ruling that Hardwick failed to state a claim, the court dismissed. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding that Georgia's law was unconstitutional. -
Americans with Disabilities
a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. In addition the ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man, Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sex in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. State Court of Appeals held that the statute was not unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause.
