The document summarizes key court cases and laws related to diversity and fairness in the United States: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. Bolling v. Sharpe (1954) extended this ruling to Washington D.C. schools via the Fifth Amendment. Plyer v. Doe (1982) struck down a Texas law denying schooling to undocumented immigrant children. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employment discrimination on characteristics like race and gender. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 replaced discriminatory national quotas with a preference system based on skills and family ties. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities across various domains

1. Selected Laws & Cases
Related to Diversity and
Fairness
AITZA M. HADDAD
SPRING 2015

2. Selected Court Cases
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
 Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)
 Plyer vs. Doe (1982)

3. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas (1954)
 This case is a consolidation of several different cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware.
 Several black children (through their legal representatives) sought admission to public schools that required or permitted
segregation based on race.
 The plaintiffs alleged that segregation was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
 In all but one case, a three judge federal district court cited Plessy v. Ferguson in denying relief under the “separate but
equal” doctrine.
 On appeal to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs contended that segregated schools were not and could not be
made equal and that they were therefore deprived of equal protection of the laws.
 The race-based segregation of children into “separate but equal” public schools violates the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is unconstitutional.
 Segregation of children in the public schools solely on the basis of race denies to black children the equal protection of the
laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, even though the physical facilities and other may be equal. Education in
public schools is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

5. Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)
 In 1867, Howard University was chartered and designated as “a University for the education of youth in the liberal arts and sciences.” In
1926, Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson became the first black President of Howard University and in 1960, he was succeeded by Dr. James M.
Nabrit, Jr., who previously held the positions of Secretary of the University and Dean of the Law School. Dr. Nabrit was a leading
constitutional lawyer and one of the lead counsels on this case
 Bolling as Brown dealt with civil rights, specifically, segregation in the District of Columbia’s public schools. This case is of particular
interest. Although Bolling was unanimously decided on May 17, 1954, the same day as Brown v. Board of Education, and became a
companion of such case
 Bolling did not addressed school desegregation in the context of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause as Brown did.
 The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause only prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property
without certain steps being taken, to ensure fairness and provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction.
 Because the District of Columbia is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States Congress and is therefore not formally a state nor part of any of
the states in United States, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause could not apply.
 The court decided that school segregation was unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of
Rights of the United States Constitution, which protects individuals against abuses from the federal government or any representing
authority in a legal procedure.
 Thanks to this case, all the rights that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution to all individuals in the United States territory
and under its jurisdiction, are also guaranteed to the people within Federal Territories, such as D.C.

7. Plyers v. Doe (1982)
 U.S. Supreme Court case
 The Court struck down a Texas statute that denied funding to local school districts for the education of children who
were not "legally admitted" into the United States, and which authorized local school districts to deny enrollment to
such children.
 The Court held that illegal aliens and their children, though not citizens of the United States or Texas, are people "in
any ordinary sense of the term" and, therefore, are afforded Fourteenth Amendment protections
 In order for a state to constitutionally deny a discrete group of individuals the rights it offers to others, this denial must
be justified by showing a legitimate state interest or by a showing that it furthers some substantial state interest.
 Since the state law severely disadvantaged the children of without a "compelling state interest” it violates the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
 The state must show that its classification of a subject class has been precisely tailored to serve a compelling
governmental interest. The Court finds it difficult to understand the states goals in limiting the education of children of
illegal immigrants. Whatever these interests may be they are insubstantial when looking at the costs of not educating
these children for the State and the Nation.

9. Selected Laws
 Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
 The American with Disabilities Act of 1990

10. Title VII
Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Pub. L. 88-352
 Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
 These protections have been extended to include barring against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, sex
stereotyping, and sexual harassment of employees.
 Currently, Title VII doesn’t include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which is a
federal legislation adding sexual orientation as a protected class against discrimination, has been proposed in recent years
 It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments.
 Title VII also applies to private and public colleges and universities, employment agencies, and labor organizations.
 The Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-166) (CRA) and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-2)
amend several sections of Title VII.
 Section 102 of the CRA amends the Revised Statutes by adding a new section following section 1977 (42 U.S.C.
1981), to provide for the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages in cases of intentional violations of Title
VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

12. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
 The Hart-Celler Act – H.R. 2580; Pub.L. 89-236; 79 Stat. 911.
 89th Congress; October 3, 1965.
 The Hart-Celler Act abolished the national origins quota system that had structured American immigration policy since
the 1920s.
 It replaced the quota system it with a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships
with citizens or residents of the U.S.
 Numerical restrictions on visas were set at 170,000 per year, not including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, nor "special
immigrants" (including those born in "independent" nations in the Western hemisphere; former citizens; ministers; employees of
the U.S. government abroad).
 Many immigration service and enforcement functions were formerly performed by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS)
 In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
which took over.
 The policies put into place by the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 are the same ones governing U.S. immigration in the
early 21st century, with some modifications;
 Non-citizens currently enter the United States lawfully in one of two ways, either by receiving either temporary (non-immigrant) admission or permanent (immigrant)
admission. A member of the latter category is classified as a lawful permanent resident, and receives a green card granting them eligibility to work in the United States
and to eventually apply for citizenship.

14. The American with Disabilities Act of
1990
 Nation's first comprehensive civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities.
 The ADA's definition of disability was broadened by The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which went into effect in January 2009
 Applies primarily, but not exclusively, to individuals who meet the ADA's definition of disability. An individual has a disability if:
 He or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his/her major life activities;
 He or she has a record of such an impairment; or
 He or she is regarded as having such an impairment.
 Through five different Titles, it prohibits discrimination in employment (Title I), public services (Title II), public
accommodations (Title III), and telecommunications (Title IV), and other miscellaneous (Title V)
 In addition to the Department of Labor, four federal agencies enforce the ADA:
 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces regulations covering employment.
 The Department of Transportation enforces regulations governing transit.
 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforces regulations covering telecommunication services.
 The Department of Justice enforces regulations governing public accommodations and state and local government services.

16. QUESTIONS