Notes Sept 5 2013 Essay Multiple parts of the essay Critical thinking Explain each part of essay as if the reader doesn t already know Say and then back it up Don t need to memorize specific details of cases Reference parts of Constitutions or cases don t need names or specific parts of the Constitution 1st 14th amendment Marbury vs Madison Equal Protection clause every citizen is entitled to the right of equal protection of the law Every citizen is just a citizen no kings and queens only one president who we choose and only for a certain amount of time Focus for today Women s campaign for equal rights Began with the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 upstate New York Declaration of Sentiments modeled after Declaration of Independence called for equality for women in all aspects of life education employment and politics Most controversial universal suffrage everyone has the right to vote men and women National Association Women Suffrage Organization lobbying senators National Women s Party Example of a 3rd party because they are not the two major parties Democratic Republican Purpose of third party to push a particular issue Republican started out as a third party that wanted to end slavery 19th Amendment right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged or denied by the US or by any state on account of sex No one in Congress has the right to vote No House of Representatives or Senate 24th Amendment outlawed the poll tax don t have to pay to vote 26th Amendment 1961 during Vietnam war citizens 18 years old or older have the right to vote A lot of young men drafted into military they were willing to serve their country if they were able to get representation Universal suffrage big step towards democracy in terms of equality and consent of the governed Cases about equality Baker vs Carr 1962 about Tennessee legislative districts districts drawn equally originally people moved from rural to urban areas so now rural areas had fewer people now rural district has more power per person to choose representatives Supreme Court said that that violates equal protection every 10 years there is a census of how many people live where and new district lines are drawn one person one vote Westbury vs Sanders congressional districts in Atlanta National Organization for Women NOW a lot of young women becoming involved in politics due to Civil Rights movement or Vietnam War these women were born after vote for women s suffrage ratification of equal rights amendment proposed ERA equality of rights under law shall be abridged or denied by US or state on account of sex Proposed and sent to states majority of women and men and Democrats and Republicans approved more than 2 3 of House and Senate Only 35 states approved so it was not added as an amendment but 21 made their one amendments Article 5 an amendment must be officially proposed and ratified by of states 38 2 3 of both House and Senate each doesn t happen very often First woman elected to progress in 1917 now 17 of Congress is women 2007 Nancy Pelosi first female Speaker of the House 2008 Hilary Clinton almost became Democratic nomination as President Was going to be won by Democrats no matter what Why Because we know from history When the economy was really bad the people vote for the other party Also there were two unpopular wars started by the Republicans Until 1981 no woman had ever served on US Supreme Court Sandra Day O Conner appointed by Reagan now there are 3 women Equal Pay Act and Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act First law signed by Obama Lily Ledbetter Act helps protect women form wage discrimination Affirmative Action programs Ex if UGA were to put up fliers in minority neighborhoods saying if you want to apply call this phone number or go to this website mild form Ex if UGA had a policy saying freshman must be at least 20 minorities strong form Challenged in courts 1978 Reagents of UCLA vs Bakke the Bakke decision white male who applied to UCLA med school somehow found out that there were women and minorities that had lower grades or test scores but still got admitted he sued claiming he was discriminated against because of his race and gender US Supreme Court had a hard time final decision 1 that a strict quota system there has to be an exact of women minorities is unconstitutional and 2 that some affirmative action programs are allowed race can be considered as one of many factors 2003 University of Michigan Supreme Court said it is legit for colleges and universities to achieve some degree of diversity to benefit their university Immigrants millions to US some legal and some illegal Wave of them come in first there s discrimination over a few generations people get used to these different people and those groups are accepted Rights of LGBT Began in 1969 after Stonewall incident Stonewall was a gay bar police would come in and arrest people or close down bar or harass the people people in bar rioted against the police 2003 Lawrence vs Texas anti sodomy laws homosexual sex was a crime these laws were ruled illegal Same sex marriage 13 states allowed it a number of other states have passed laws saying just because you were married in another state we don t recognize that same sex marriage 1996 Congress passed Defense of Marriage act allowed states to refuse to recognize other states gay marriages 3 months ago Court declared that same sex couples must receive same federal benefits that every other married couple gets no matter what state they live in didn t mention whether or not states have to give state benefits to these couples Full faith and credit as a citizen of GA and you drive into another state you don t lose any of your rights