Lesson 19: How Has the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Changed the Constitution?
What is the meaning of the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment? (Video)
Meaning of equal protection clause; justification for unequal treatment; unjustified unequal treatment; Fourteenth Amendment focuses on states; Supreme Court interprets Fifth Amendment to apply Equal Protection Clause to the national government; purposes of Equal Protection Clause; concept of subordination; differences between the equality of opportunity and of condition; disparate impact and disparate treatment; inequality of condition and inequality of rights; Congress and state legislatures versus the Supreme Court in regard to laws dealing with disparate impact.
Student Questions: Unit 3, Lesson 19, Sections 1-5 (pdf download)
Image credits: Sojourner Truth, 1864, Wikimedia Commons/National Portrait Gallery; At the bus station in Durham, North Carolina by Jack Delano, 1940, Wikimedia Commons/Library of Congress; wocintech(microsoft) - 161 by WOCinTech Chat, 2016, Flickr/WOCinTech Chat/CC BY 2.0.
What was the Separate but Equal Doctrine, what were its effects, and what role did the NAACP play in overturning it? (Video)
The "separate but equal" doctrine; its justification; Plessy v. Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Education; role of NAACP in overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine; Thurgood Marshall; inherent inequality.
What difficulties arose in the implementation of the decision in Brown v. Board of Education? (Video)
Difficulties in implementation of Brown decision; history of defiance; residential segregation laws; role of federal district court judges; problem with "all deliberate speed" requirement in Brown decision; eventual acceptance of Brown decision.
How has the Supreme Court (Video)
Expansion of interpretation and application of the Equal Protection Clause; expanded categories or classes of people to whom it is applicable; affirmative action; levels of analysis of "suspect" classes, which include strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, and minimum rationality review.
What are some current controversies over the equal protection clause? (Video)
Current controversies about equal protection of the laws; issues regarding race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, and religion; areas in which constitutional amendments might be pending, which include equality of sexual orientation and a national popular vote.
John Q. Barrett on Some Justice Jackson Opinions & the Supreme Court (Video)
In this lecture segment, Professor Barrett describes Justice Jackson's opinions in two major U.S. Supreme Court cases, and his discontent on the Court during this period.
Equal Protection: How Does It Work? (Video)
A 20 minute video discussing the equal protection clause.
John Hope Franklin: Brown vs. Board of Education (Video)
Listen to John Hope Franklin discuss his role in researching the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case in 1953.
Arguing Affirmative Action (Video)
A video discussing affirmative action and its purpose.
60-Second Civics, Episode 240: Role of the Courts, Part 1: Brown v. Board (Audio)
A discussion of Brown v. Board of Education.
