Historiography



Supreme CourtHistoriographyMichael KlarmanSupreme Court rulings reflect societyJudges are part of contemporary culture Political vs. Legal axisJudges are not heroes of villainsGoldstone – Inherently Unequal (1865-1903)Look at the Supreme Court in the Jim Crow eraSupreme Court justices are a barrier to equal rightsCritique Harlan as a racist even considering his dissent in Plessy vs. Fergusonjustices rested their opinions on convoluted legal reasoning rather than on broad principlesopinions lay a deep-seated racism strengthened by the justices' embrace of Social DarwinismGraham and Davis“Before and after the civil war, the Supreme Court of the United States restricted the scope of laws and the constitution in ways that relegated blacks to second-class citizenship status” “The Warren Court’s impact on civil rights and civil liberties is a fait accompli” (where the outcome has already been decided and you are forced to accept it). “His extraordinary vision resulted in evolutionary changes in constitutional development in the volatile era of race relations” “The Burger Court was not antagonistic to the Warren Court’s egalitarian principles expressed in Brown and its progeny. The legacy was quite mixed and does not form a coherent pattern”“from our discussion of the Rehnquist Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and federal civil rights statutes is that its solidified conservative policy stance has seriously questioned the Supreme Court’s contemporary role as protector and guardian of minority rights and interests”Chronology: Post-Reconstruction era and the issues surrounding Jim Crow and segregation in America.p.17 in Klarman Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) – 7-1RulingIt 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”. P.20 in Klarman for the 14th Amendment issue.JusticesJudge Harlan dissents – why? P.22 in Klarman (Goldstone argues he is still racist).Context: Progressive era 1900-1919. Guinn v United States (1915) - ?RulingThe grandfather clauses in the Maryland and Oklahoma constitutions were repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment and therefore null and void. The constitutions had said that if one could prove that their Grandfather had voted, the person in question did not have to do a literacy test. P.63 covers the context of Guinn vs. U.S.JusticesEra of the White Court started in 1910 (progressive wing of the court)Context: Interwar period 1919-1945p.99 for the context and p.115 for the racial views of the justices on the Court in this era,Nixon v Herndon (1927) – 9-0RulingStruck down a 1923 Texas law forbidding blacks from voting in the Texas Democratic Party primary.JusticesTaft CourtPowell v. Alabama (1932) – 7-2RulingIt reversed the convictions of nine young black men for allegedly raping two white women on a freight train near Scottsboro, Alabama. The majority of the Court reasoned that the right to retain and be represented by a lawyer was fundamental to a fair trial and that at least in some circumstances, the trial judge must inform a defendant of this right. P.123 in Klarman.JusticesGaines vs. Canada (1935)RulingMissouri could not satisfy its obligation to provide equal protection by sending an African American resident to an out-of-state law school and that Lionel Gaines must thus be admitted to the all-white University of Missouri School of Law. This case was the beginning of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s effort to chip away at the separate-but-equal doctrine.JusticesContext – impact of WWII on American society p.173 for WWII then p.186 has information on the impact of the Cold War p.193 for justices on the court in this eraShelley v. Kraemer (1948) – 6-0RulingCourts could not enforce racial covenants on real estate.JusticesSweatt v. Painter (1950) – 9-0Rulingthe Court struck down segregation of African American students in law and graduate schools. (Separate but equal grounds)JusticesVinson court - ideological battle between the judicial restraint of Justice Felix Frankfurter and the civil rights activism of Justices William o. Douglas and Hugo Black.Context: Civil Rights MovementBrown vs. Board of Education (1954) – 9-0RulingState laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson. Law or politics? P.292 for law and politics.JusticesStart of the Warren Court – very progressive! Eisenhower quote saying he regrets appointing him and has him over for dinner (challenges Klarman?). Look at the debates that took place and Warren’s role.Brown v. Board II (1955) – 9-0Rulingthe Supreme Court held that school systems must abolish their racially dual systems, but could do so “with all deliberate speed.”ContextProof Brown I wasn’t working?JusticesBailey v. Patterson (1962)RulingThe Court recognised as settled law that a state may not segregate interstate and intrastate transportation facilities inJusticesLoving v. Virginia (1967) – 9-0Rulingthe Court struck down state laws which prohibited inter-racial marriage and held that marriage was a fundamental right.JusticesContext - Burger court: Though Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan all criticized the rulings of the Warren Court and sought to appoint conservative justices, the legacy of the Warren Court remained strong throughout Warren Burger's tenure as Chief Justice. Rise of the ‘new right’ in America (conservative backlash in society). Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)Rulingthe Court ruled busing was an appropriate legal tool for addressing illegal segregation of the schools.JusticesBurger CourtMilliken v. Bradley (1974) – 5-4RulingThe ruling clarified the distinction between de jure and de facto segregation, confirming that segregation was allowed if it was not considered an explicit policy of each school district. In particular, the Court held that the school systems were not responsible for desegregation across district lines unless it could be shown that they had each deliberately engaged in a policy of segregation.JusticesBurger CourtRegents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)Rulingthe Supreme Court ruled that the medical school’s special admission program setting aside a fixed number of seats for minorities violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. At the same time, however, in an opinion written by Justice Power ll, it ruled that race could lawfully be considered as one of several factors in making admissions decisions.JusticesLook at issues with getting a majority vote.City of Mobile v. Bolden (1980) – 6-3Rulingnarrowly interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It held that, in order to establish a violation, the government must prove that any change in voting practices that harms minorities was actually motivated by discriminatory intent. This holding was legislatively overturned by the 1982 Voting Rights Act Amendments.JusticesBatson v. Kentucky (1986) – 7-2Rulingthe Court held that a prosecutor’s use of a preemptory challenge to dismiss a juror, based solely on the juror’s race, is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth AmendmentJusticesDissents from Burger and Rehnquice are interestingPatterson v. McLean Credit UnionRulingheld that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 covers only job discrimination at the hiring stage and is thus powerless to address racial harassment and other forms of discrimination that take place once a worker is on the job. JusticesDissents from Burger and Rehnquice are interesting Fran’s Top TipsState each case with your judgement on whether the outcome is a barrier or and aid to Civil Rights. For each case, you need to look at whether the judgement itself is a barrier/aid to Civil Rights, but also look at the impact of the case in society! ................
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