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dread Scott V. Sandford
Dread Scott was originally slaved in Missouri but after 1843 he resided in Illinois which was a free state. When returning to Missouri he fought that he should be a citizen not a slave because he resided in a free state. The state courts disagreed and Scott took the case to the Supreme Court where they said an ancestor of any slave brought to the US could never be a citizen of the US. -
13th Amendment
Under the presidency of Lincoln the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment grants legal citizenship to any person born in the United States regardless of ancestry including their own parents. -
15th Amendment
People of all races have the right to vote and states can't withhold that right strictly based on the color of their skin. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
Homer Plessy was a mixed race individual who agreed to participate in a test on the Separate Car Act which stated there should be separate railway cars for white and black people. He was caught and told to get off and he refused leading to his arrest. His trial was brought all the way to the Supreme Court under claims that his arrest violated the 13th and 14th amendments. The Supreme Court ruled that the Separate Car act could be upheld but only if the separate cars were also equal. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment like the 15th gives more individuals the right to vote. It states that states can't withhold the right to vote from people based on their gender. -
Brown V. BOE
Brown V. BOE is based on multiple cases throughout multiple states where African American citizens were denied access to white schools. The argument is that this violated the "separate but equal" decision because the schooling was very different in very negative ways in black and white schools. The court agreed and demanded an end to segregation in schools. -
Civil Rights act of 1964
The civil rights act was passed after decades of fighting fir equality. The act says that discrimination based race, color, religion, sex or national origin was prohibited. -
24th Amendment
As a result of the 15th amendment polls tried to find ways to prevent black citizens from voting. One of these ways was requiring a fee to vote. The 24th amendment makes a clear that there is not price for voting and states are not allowed to require one. -
Voting rights act of 1965
Like the 24th amendment the voting rights act put a stop to discriminatory practices that attempted to withhold black citizens right to vote. Such practices like literacy tests and the grandfather clause mainly used by souther states were shot down. -
Title IX
Title IX makes it illegal for there to be discrimination in education based on sex in any school that is funded by the public. So public schools had to educate all genders the same way. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke was a white man who attempted to admit to the University of California Medical School at Davis but was twice turned away. The school was known to keep 16 places for minorities in their program, in both years Bakke was turned away his credentials were better than the 16 spots. Bakke argued him not getting in was racial bias. The Supreme Court they ruled that Bakke should be admitted but schools could still use race as criteria for admissions. -
Equal Rights Amendment
Equal rights amendment was a long time coming for women. It officially stated that men and women were to be equal in the yes of the law. This extended equal rights in matters such as divorce, property, and employment. -
Bowers V. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick is a gay man and was caught engaging in acts with another grown man. He was then arrested for violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy. The Supreme Court said that the state had very right to find him guilty. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act was passed after people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities began to fight against a world not accessible to them. The act sates that those with disabilities have same rights as everyone else such as rights to employment, State and local government, and transportation. -
Shelby County v Holder
This Declared Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional.Claiming it went needs in the climate of today. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This was brought to the courts by groups of same ex couples who were refused the right to marry. The Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to be legally recognized as a married couple.