1. Civil Liberties
&
Civil Rights
Dr. Christopher S. Rice

2. Civil Liberties
Individuals’ freedoms
and legal protections
that cannot be denied
or hindered by the
actions of government.

3. Embodied in
Bill of Rights as
prohibitions
against
government
actions that
threaten
freedom.

4. Liberties in the Constitution
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Prohibition on Bills of Attainder
Prohibition on ex post facto laws
Prohibition on states from
impairing the obligation of
contracts.

5. Dred Scott
v. Sandford
(1857)

6. Rights of Property in
Human Beings

7. Argued
Founders
believed
blacks had no
rights whites
were
compelled to
respect.

8. Civil War Amendments
13th Amendment – outlawed slavery
14th Amendment – reversed Dred Scott;
Due Process and Equal Protection
Clauses
15th Amendment – States couldn’t deny
right to vote based on “race, color or
previous condition of servitude.”

9. On paper vs. reality…
Civil Rights Cases of 1883 – Equal
Protection clause did not include
racial discrimination by private
parties.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – States
could require separation of the races
on intrastate railways if “equal”
facilities for the races were provided.

10. Incorporation
The process used by the Supreme
Court to protect individuals from
actions by state and local
government by interpreting the
due process clause of the 14th
Amendment as containing selected
provisions of the Bill of Rights.

11. Freedom of Speech

12. Gitlow v. New York (1925)

13. Schenck v.
United
States
(1919)
“Clear and
Present
Danger”
Test

14. Limitations on Speech
Speech mixed with conduct may be
restricted under certain conditions.
Symbolic Expression
Use of profanity or “fighting words”
Hate Speech has generally not been
as restricted.

15. Limitations on Speech
Imminent-lawless action test –
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969): can’t incite
harmful actions
Libel – published false and harmful
information
Slander – spoken false and harmful
information
Classified information – national security
documents

16. Limitations on free speech
Certain types of obscenity
“Fire!”
Where you may protest
Any others?

17. Right to Privacy?

18. Right to Privacy
3rd Amendment – prohibition against
quartering of soldiers in our homes.
4th Amendment – prohibition against
unreasonable search and seizure.
1st Amendment Rights
9th Amendment – Protection of non-
enumerated rights.

19. Right to Privacy
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) – ruled a right to
privacy exists as basis for striking down laws
making birth control illegal.
Roe v. Wade (1973) – also decided on the basis
of this right to privacy.
Lawrence and Garner v. Texas (2003) – Court
decided 6-3 that Texas sodomy laws violated
due process clause of 14th Amendment. (“State
cannot demean their existence or control their
destiny by making their private sexual
conduct a crime.”

20. “Strict Constructionism”

21. Civil Rights
Legal protections concerning
equality and citizens’
participation in the country’s
democratic governing
process.

22. Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties
Civil Rights are government
guarantees of political equality.
Civil Liberties protect individuals
from governmental interference.
Civil rights tend to apply to
groups, civil liberties are
individual protections.

23. Equality for African-Americans
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - “Separate but
Equal”
Circumventing voting guarantees of the 15th
Amendment:
Poll Tax
Literacy Test (+ Grandfather Clause)
White Primaries
Terror and Intimidation (has this really ended?)

24. Equality for African-Americans
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
KS (1954)
Reversed Plessy: “Separate educational facilities
inherently unequal”
1954 Gallup poll - substantial majority of Southern
whites opposed decision.
1954 Gallup poll - only a slim majority of whites outside
the South agreed with the decision
The struggle for civil rights was on…

25. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements,
but did not abolish literacy tests.
Outlawed discrimination in:
Hotels
Motels
Restaurants
Theaters
all other public accommodations engaged in interstate
commerce
exempted private clubs without defining quot;private,quot; thereby
allowing a loophole.