Fiche de révision : The Supreme Court and Civil Rights

📋 Course Outline

1. Constitutional basis and structure of the US Supreme Court
2. Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices
3. Judicial review as the Supreme Court’s core power and its societal impact
4. DRED V SANDFORD (1857) – SLAVERY IN QUESTION “Dred Scott V Sandford” = typo, “Sandford” had no d originally = “Sanford” Key dates
5. Legal provisions on slavery, fugitive slave laws, and early abolition efforts
6. Fourteenth Amendment enforcement: citizenship, due process, and equal protection
7. Fifteenth Amendment and voting rights protections
8. Plessy v. Ferguson and the legal foundation of racial segregation
9. Civil rights movement, voting rights, and Supreme Court influence on equality
10. Freedom of speech and symbolic expression in Supreme Court rulings
11. Public image, decorum, and perceived independence of the Supreme Court
12. Key Supreme Court cases shaping social and civil rights in US history

📖 1. Constitutional basis and structure of the US Supreme Court

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Cons : The judicial branch's power to interpret the law and determine its constitutionality, including reviewing laws and executive actions to ensure they comply with the Constitution.
• Leak : Unauthorized disclosure of confidential Supreme Court information, such as decisions or deliberations, which can undermine the Court's integrity and independence.
• Procedure : The process by which cases reach the Supreme Court, primarily through appeals after lower courts have decided, with the Court choosing to hear only about 2% of cases brought to it.
• Pros : Advantages of the Supreme Court include its role as a final arbiter of constitutional issues, ensuring legal consistency, and protecting rights against legislative or executive overreach.
• Judicial Power of the United States : The authority vested in the Supreme Court and inferior courts by the Constitution to interpret laws, review their constitutionality, and resolve legal disputes, with judges serving during good behavior and receiving protected compensation.

📝 Essential Points

• The judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court and inferior courts established by Congress.
• Supreme Court judges hold office during good behaviour and receive compensation that cannot be diminished during their tenure.
• The Supreme Court hears only about 2% of cases brought to it, acting primarily as a court of appeal.

💡 Key Takeaway

The judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court and inferior courts established by Congress.

📖 2. Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Kavanaugh : A Supreme Court justice whose confirmation process exemplifies the political and procedural complexities involved in appointing justices, though specific details are not provided in the source content.
• Judicial review : The authority of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution and to invalidate laws or executive actions that conflict with constitutional provisions, establishing the Constitution as the supreme law.

📝 Essential Points

• The President nominates Supreme Court justices with the advice and consent of the Senate.
• Senate can refuse to hold hearings or confirm nominees, as seen in the Merrick Garland case in 2016.
• Senate confirmation can vary by political context, illustrated by Amy Coney Barrett's swift confirmation in 2020.
• Section 2 “[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court […]” Supreme Court further defined in the Article dedicated to the executive power : President chooses the candidate and Congress can disagree on the candidate chosen by President. Procedure : Supreme court as appeal system = cannot decide to review a law = have to plea your case to the lower layer then if fail, you can bring it to the highest level. Many cases are brought to them : opponents of a law try to find suitable cases, in order to have the Supreme Court review it. Interested parties submit amicus briefs. Supreme Court responds to a writ of certoriari (written request) Supreme Court often refuse to hear a case. Choosing to hear the case is an event = means a lot, it is a case of great importance, its outcome will shape society (Supreme Court rulings can be progressive or reactionary depending on the justices). Listen to the pleas (oral arguments) of each party and ask questions (can last for hours), hundreds of people take notes to help take decision. Then the nine justices discuss privately (deliberations), come to a decision via vote. Issue

💡 Key Takeaway

The President nominates Supreme Court justices with the advice and consent of the Senate.

📖 3. Judicial review as the Supreme Court’s core power and its societal impact

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Supreme Court : Custom and precedent

📝 Essential Points

• The Supreme Court's sole power is judicial review: interpreting laws and checking their constitutionality.
• If federal or state laws contradict the Constitution, the laws must be changed rather than the Constitution.
• The 14th Amendment clarifies the constitutional hierarchy by requiring states to follow the Constitution and declaring laws that conflict with it void.
• Section 2 “Every person who shall monopolise, or attempt to monopolise, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolise any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person,$350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.” Supreme Court establishes corporations as people and protects property rights above all. Long ambiguity: are corporations protected as people (privacy, free speech, contract, etc.)? Late 19th century, expansion & consolidation. In particular, 14th amendment (Equal Protection/Due Process) applied after 1886 = jurisprudence used massively in the 20th and 21st century (including 2010 Citizens United. Coming soon in these lectures!) + no labour protection from the Constitution. Example: due process v. price regulation “If the company is deprived of the power of charging reasonable rates… and such deprivation takes place in the absence of an investigation by judicial machinery, it is deprived of the lawful use of its property, and thus, in substance and effect, of the property itself, without due process of law.” -Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway v. Minnesota (1890) Lochner v. New
• (Plessy) = technically considered black but white passing so he can sit in a white seat on a train = gets up and says he’s black = refuses to move and gets arrested = build a case to strike down Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890 = Plessy lost at every step (trial, appeal, state supreme court). Supreme Court decides that the law is constitutional = as long as there are “equal” trains for everyone, it’s fine. Majority decision = 7-1. The dissenting opinion = segregation is not equality for all but separation based on race hierarchy = appalled by the decision. “Such legislation as that here in question is inconsistent not only with that equality of rights which pertains to citizenship, national and state, but with the personal liberty enjoyed by every one within the United States. […] “The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage, and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty. But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our constitution is colour-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal

💡 Key Takeaway

Judicial review is the Supreme Court’s fundamental authority, enabling it to uphold the Constitution as the supreme law and shape society by invalidating laws that conflict with constitutional principles.

📖 4. DRED V SANDFORD (1857) – SLAVERY IN QUESTION “Dred Scott V Sandford” = typo, “Sandford” had no d originally = “Sanford” Key dates

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Reconstruction : = literal and political = No access to political leadership in the South, North controls state governments in South to ensure compliance with the rule of law = hate, anger frustration.
• After Civil war : = trauma, devastating, plantations destroyed, Southerners lose everything, plantations, slaves and power (only landowners have power, no vast plantation means no power).
• Fugitive Slave Law : A law that mandated the return of escaped slaves to their owners, with harsher punishments enacted in 1850 to enforce slavery.

📝 Essential Points

• Dred Scott v. Sandford challenged the legal status of slavery and citizenship rights.
• The Fugitive Slave Law required escaped slaves to be returned to their owners, strengthened in 1850 with harsh punishments.
• The case and laws reflected compromises between Northern and Southern states regarding slavery enforcement.

💡 Key Takeaway

Dred Scott v. Sandford challenged the legal status of slavery and citizenship rights.

📖 5. Legal provisions on slavery, fugitive slave laws, and early abolition efforts

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Cotton : A major crop in the southern United States that became highly dependent on slave labor after the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, leading to increased demand for slaves and the expansion of slavery in the South.
• Slave power : The influence and political strength of slaveholding interests in the United States, which sought to protect and expand slavery through legal and constitutional means.

📝 Essential Points

• The Fugitive Slave Clause mandated that escaped slaves be returned to their owners even if they fled to free states.
• The Migration or Importation Clause prevented Congress from banning the importation of slaves before 1808.
• Early legal provisions balanced slaveholder interests with emerging abolitionist pressures, delaying the end of the transatlantic slave trade.

💡 Key Takeaway

Constitutional legal mechanisms, such as the Fugitive Slave Clause and the Importation Clause, protected slavery and delayed abolition in early US history.

📖 6. Fourteenth Amendment enforcement: citizenship, due process, and equal protection

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Consensus : A general agreement or shared opinion among a group, such as the debated topic of the number of Supreme Court justices.
• 2002 : The year associated with legislative efforts to address campaign finance issues, including closing loopholes related to soft and hard money contributions.
• Due process : A constitutional guarantee that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without fair legal procedures, as specified in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Equal Protection Clause : A provision in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment requiring states to provide equal protection of the laws to all persons within their jurisdiction.

📝 Essential Points

• The Fourteenth Amendment grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US.
• Congress has the power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment through appropriate legislation.
• Section 2 “Every person who shall monopolise, or attempt to monopolise, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolise any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person,$350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.” Supreme Court establishes corporations as people and protects property rights above all. Long ambiguity: are corporations protected as people (privacy, free speech, contract, etc.)? Late 19th century, expansion & consolidation. In particular, 14th amendment (Equal Protection/Due Process) applied after 1886 = jurisprudence used massively in the 20th and 21st century (including 2010 Citizens United. Coming soon in these lectures!) + no labour protection from the Constitution. Example: due process v. price regulation “If the company is deprived of the power of charging reasonable rates… and such deprivation takes place in the absence of an investigation by judicial machinery, it is deprived of the lawful use of its property, and thus, in substance and effect, of the property itself, without due process of law.” -Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway v. Minnesota (1890) Lochner v. New
• Nov 22. SCOTUS made the preventive move to stop the recounting manually, issue of timing (Congress has the power to throw all votes out) and unequal treatment = give the win to BUSH. Justices issued different decision, three in one. Anomaly in the SCOTUS, never used as precedent. Some said it was a violation of the equal protection and due process clause, not treated equally. What is the remedy ? Should they provide very clear guideline ? Should SCOTUS be taking the decision ? Should they stop the count ? = many dissenting? Never happened before, need new standards but not enough time. Run counter to 14th amendment. Last issue is timing = appeal on Nov 22, deadline on

💡 Key Takeaway

The Fourteenth Amendment establishes citizenship, due process, and equal protection as constitutional foundations for civil rights and state accountability.

📖 7. Fifteenth Amendment and voting rights protections

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Plessy : = test case (many similarity with Rosa Parks, looks old because dressed very humbly for the action, deliberate strategy, not actually like that) Homer Plessy = their religion.
• SCOTUS : = have to protect both sides, make sure no discrimination based on gender or sex, or religion.
• Them : The collapse of Black participation = 1860 – 1889, there were 13 black representatives in the US Congress
• 14th amendment : A constitutional amendment ratified in 1868 that grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and prohibits states from denying any person equal protection of the laws or depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process.

📝 Essential Points

• The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
• Congress is empowered to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment through appropriate legislation.
• The amendment was designed to secure voting rights for former slaves after the Civil War.
• Section 2 “The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” 4.2. PLESSY V FERGUSSON 4.2.1. THE CASE Plessy V Fergusson (1896) = Decision taken by 7 justices to segregate, uphold a hierarchy of races = ruled as constitutional despite the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments = doesn’t say they can live together = live separate life as long as have access to same facilities. Don’t include black people everywhere, just make more facilities. “Laws permitting, and even requiring, their separation, in places where they are liable to be brought into contact, do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been generally, if not universally, recognised as within the competency of the state legislatures in the exercise of their police power. The most common instance of this is connected with the establishment of separate schools for white and coloured children, which have been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative power even by courts of states where the political rights of the coloured race have been longest and most earnestly enforced.” Excerpt from the majority opinion, written by Henry Billings Brown Case history Civil right organisation against segregation (which is everywhere in the South) decided to act. 1892, New Orleans, Louisiana = find a model citizen (well informed, educated) victim of the one drop rule
• Section 2 “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” 14th amendment = years later in 1868 (legislation takes a long time) = most important amendment for our studies. Protects everyone who lives on American grounds, ensuring everyone has equal rights = drastic contrast with the decision of the Supreme Court to exclude Black people from citizenship in Scott V Sandford.

💡 Key Takeaway

The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

📖 8. Plessy v. Ferguson and the legal foundation of racial segregation

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Argument : = claim that there is a lot of fraud (untrue, very little voter fraud) = social media outrage to prevent illegal immigrants from voting (even
• Separate but equal doctrine : The legal principle established by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that racial segregation is constitutional as long as the separate facilities provided to each race are equal.

📝 Essential Points

• The Supreme Court upheld racial segregation as constitutional under the 'separate but equal' doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
• The decision legally sanctioned a hierarchy of races and institutionalized segregation, allowing states to maintain separate facilities for different races as long as they were deemed equal.
• The ruling provided a legal foundation for widespread racial discrimination in public facilities, enshrining segregation into law for nearly half a century until it was overturned in 1954.

💡 Key Takeaway

Plessy v. Ferguson is the Supreme Court case that legitimized racial segregation by establishing the 'separate but equal' doctrine, which lasted for decades.

📖 9. Civil rights movement, voting rights, and Supreme Court influence on equality

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Sixties : = called the long sixties because this period had such an impact on American social life.
• Preclearance : = federal government scrutinise the voting laws being passed in the state to make sure you don’t discriminate against people.
• Civil Rights Movement : A social and political movement during the 1950s and 1960s aimed at ending racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans, leading to landmark legal and social reforms.

📝 Essential Points

• The Supreme Court played a key role in advancing civil rights and voting rights during the 20th century.
• Court decisions helped dismantle legal segregation and protect minority voting rights.
• The Court's rulings influenced the pace and scope of social equality reforms.

💡 Key Takeaway

Appreciating the Supreme Court’s pivotal role in shaping civil rights progress and voting equality.

📖 10. Freedom of speech and symbolic expression in Supreme Court rulings

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Freedom of speech : A constitutional protection under the First Amendment that prohibits the government from restricting individuals' expression of ideas and opinions.
• Freedom of the press : A constitutional protection under the First Amendment that prevents government censorship, allowing the press to operate independently to inform the public and scrutinize government actions.
• Example : Amy Coney Barrett, chosen by Trump because she was though to be against women’s reproductive rights but she chose not to review the impact or that they would not respect their duty if independence (decisions to benefit their friends / allies + not elected by p
• Symbolic Speech : Non-verbal actions intended to convey a political message, protected by the First Amendment when peaceful and not inciting violence.
• Expressive Conduct : Actions that communicate a message or viewpoint, which the Supreme Court protects as free speech if they are peaceful and do not incite violence.

📝 Essential Points

• Actions like flag burning are considered expressive conduct and are constitutionally protected if peaceful and non-inciting.
• Offensive political speech is protected unless it incites violence or constitutes fighting words.
• Fighting words (speech bringing violence, inciting violence and it will happen)
• True threats
• Hate speech = to be balanced with freedom of speech and the press (social media, control by private companies over what is distributed)
• Defamation and Privacy torts (access to private info of someone that can harm them)
• False statements
• Obscenity
• Child pornography Find a balance = how much to limit = government official can say anything but cannot leak secrets, for example. Students protected a lot in school limits. Prisoners. 8.1. THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS So many Presidents tried to deal with the issue of the Vietnam War. It was a mistake to involve themselves in the first place, but they sent more troops to avoid humiliation instead of de-escalating. President Johnson reluctant to intervene in Vietnam = goes against his program of social help (racial equality, welfare...). American obsessed with getting out of the war, he promised it would be short. Hope for progressive policies = doubt = the people wanted access to info and transparency to make sense of the issue (most could not place Vietnam on a map). Only Congress can declare war = did not declare war on Vietnam, just sent troops under the false pretence that “Vietnam started it first” (untrue, just justification) Most Americans refused intervention yet the war lasted for so long. Government sent troops
• Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfil its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.” Hugo Black “Secrecy in government is fundamentally anti-democratic, perpetuating bureaucratic errors. Open debate and discussion of public issues are vital to our national health.” Douglas SCOTUS’s role debated in the Court, but never the 1st amendment. Understood in absolute terms. Originalism not always linked to conservativism. Freedom of the press and speech = no law restricting it. Absolute freedom framed as a necessity. “We are asked to hold that, despite the First Amendment's emphatic command, the Executive Branch, the Congress, and the Judiciary can make laws enjoining publication of current news and abridging freedom of the press in the name of "national security." The Government does not even attempt to rely on any act of Congress. Instead, it makes the bold and dangerously far-reaching contention that the courts should take it upon themselves to "make" a law abridging freedom of the press in the name of

💡 Key Takeaway

Actions like flag burning are considered expressive conduct and are constitutionally protected if peaceful and non-inciting.

📖 11. Public image, decorum, and perceived independence of the Supreme Court

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Decorum : INDEPENDENCE Decorum = many rituals, have to speak in a certain way, very polite and solemn.

📝 Essential Points

• Supreme Court justices maintain strict decorum, including formal speech and solemn rituals.
• Justices are appointed for life to ensure independence from political pressure.
• The Court generally avoids public exposure, preferring invisibility to maintain impartiality and legitimacy.
• Inc. publications as does this, taken last month by an enterprising amateur, a young woman who concealed her small camera in her handbag, cutting a hole through which the lens peeped, resembling an ornament. She practised shooting from the hip, without using the camera's finder which was inside the purse, before achieving this result.” The Times In order to take pic = shooting from the hip = woman taking a pic with her hip with her camera hidden in her bag. “I can tell you the day you see a camera come into our courtroom, it’s going to roll over my dead body” David Souter, 1896 9.1.2. CAMERAS AND RECORDINGS Legal framework = photos and cameras forbidden, television banned until 1972. Hard get access to audio recording of the proceedings (exist since 1955) + tapes are so bad that nothing can be understood = limited use until 1993. Nowadays, decisions are made public online, hearings on live stream, due to a trial from a political scientist to get access to the records + Many anomalies, imperfect record. Oyez (web-based audio archive) not affiliated with the court. Pandemic accelerated the process (live-streamed hearings) What is the impact of the changes ? Invisibility very frustrated for Congress (flag laws that get struck down every year despite the support of the population). Congress want justices to be more liable to the public, for everyone to have access to the records
• No pressure after nomination (unless bribes, but that’s corruption) = independence, no pressure to do what they don’t believe in BUT in practice, this is deemed undemocratic because they are appointed for life.

💡 Key Takeaway

Supreme Court justices maintain strict decorum, including formal speech and solemn rituals.

📖 12. Key Supreme Court cases shaping social and civil rights in US history

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Constitution : Washington imagined the connexion between the branches of power as “ropes of sand” because too fragile and doesn’t work as intended in the Constitution = gather for the Constitutional convention to brainstorm it
• Marbury v. Madison : DRED V SANDFORD (1857) – SLAVERY IN QUESTION “Dred Scott V Sandford” = typo, “Sandford” had no d originally

📝 Essential Points

• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) denied citizenship and rights to African Americans, exacerbating sectional conflict.
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld racial segregation under 'separate but equal.'
• Voting rights cases in the 20th century expanded protections against racial discrimination in voting.
• Custom and precedent = America operates under common law but Constitution always prevails, based on precedent (Marbury V Madison sets the precedents that the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review) = Supreme Court reviews cases and sets precedent, make decisions based on what’s been said before.
• (Plessy) = technically considered black but white passing so he can sit in a white seat on a train = gets up and says he’s black = refuses to move and gets arrested = build a case to strike down Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890 = Plessy lost at every step (trial, appeal, state supreme court). Supreme Court decides that the law is constitutional = as long as there are “equal” trains for everyone, it’s fine. Majority decision = 7-1. The dissenting opinion = segregation is not equality for all but separation based on race hierarchy = appalled by the decision. “Such legislation as that here in question is inconsistent not only with that equality of rights which pertains to citizenship, national and state, but with the personal liberty enjoyed by every one within the United States. […] “The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage, and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty. But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our constitution is colour-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal

💡 Key Takeaway

Landmark Supreme Court cases like Marbury, Dred Scott, Plessy, and voting rights decisions have profoundly shaped civil rights and social justice in America.

📅 Key Dates

📊 Synthesis Tables

Supreme Court Cases on Civil Rights and Segregation

⚠️ Common Pitfalls & Confusions

1. Confusing judicial review with legislative power.
2. Assuming all Supreme Court decisions are permanent or unchangeable.
3. Misunderstanding the 'separate but equal' doctrine as equal integration.
4. Overlooking the role of the Court in civil rights advancements.
5. Confusing the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment with other amendments.
6. Ignoring the influence of precedent in Supreme Court rulings.
7. Misinterpreting the Court's role in social and societal change.

✅ Exam Checklist

1. Understand the constitutional basis of the Supreme Court.
2. Identify key Supreme Court cases related to civil rights.
3. Explain the significance of judicial review.
4. Describe the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment.
5. Discuss the 'separate but equal' doctrine.
6. Analyze the Court's role in the Civil Rights Movement.
7. Recognize landmark rulings on voting rights.
8. Explain the Court's influence on social justice.
9. Identify the process of Supreme Court nominations and confirmations.
10. Understand the societal impact of Supreme Court decisions.
11. Discuss the importance of judicial independence.
12. Recognize the role of precedent in Court decisions.