United States Constitution: Amendent 14. Due Process & Equal Protection

WHO IS A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES?

• Any person is born in the United States
• Or a naturalized citizen
• Governed by the laws of the United States.

This reversed the Supreme Court's Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) decision which said that African-Americans were not citizens.

DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

A state cannot take away a person's "life, liberty or property" without due process of law. This applies not just to a citizen but the Amendment states "any person" is covered under this section of the Amendment.--United States Constitution

INCORPORATION UNDER THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

Incorporation: the act of incorporating the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment.

• Originally the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights only applied to the Federal Government, not the States: Barron v Baltimore (1833).
• Since the 14th Amendment was ratified, the Supreme Court has decided that most of the Bill of Rights can be incorporated into the 14th Amendment: Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad Co. v Chicago (1897). concerning the Just Compensation Clause of the 5th Amendment.
• Reason for Incorporation: If the States were excluded from obeying the Bill of Rights, it created a dual standard of law and justice and encouraged disobedience of the Constitution. Mapp v Ohio (1961)
• Rights not yet incorporated: 
  • The 3rd Amendment's ban on quartering troops.
  • The 5th Amendment's right to a grand jury indictment.
  • The 7th Amendment's guarantee of a trial by jury in civil cases.
  • The 8th Amendment's prohibition of excessive bail and fines.

SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS

Substantive Due Process means to uphold rights not mentioned in the Constitution as stated in the 9th Amendment.

Some Rights Covered Under "Substantive Due Process"

• Liberty Interests:
  • Meyer v Nebraska (1923): The right for a school to teach a language other than English.
  • Pierce v Society of Sisters (1925): The right of parents to send their children to a private school.
  • Kent v Dulles (1958): The right to international travel.
  • Cruzan v Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990): The right to refuse medical treatment.
• The Right to Privacy:
  • Roe v Wade (1973): The right for a woman to terminate a pregnancy.
  • Lawrence v Texas (2003): The right to sexual privacy between two consenting adults.
  • Obergefell v Hodges (2015): The right to same-sex marriage.
• Freedom of Association:
  • NAACP v. Alabama (1959)​: The right to associate for expressive, often political purposes.​​​​​​
  • Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984): The right to associate conflicted with eradicating gender discrimination.
  • Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut (1986): The right of a political party to open its primaries to independents.
  • Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000): Freedom of association conflicted with anti-discrimination law.
  • California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000): A Stare law mandating open primaries violated the associational rights of political parties.
• Financial Rights:
  • Goldberg v Kelly (1970): Right to a hearing before termination of public aid.

EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE

A State cannot deny "any person" the equal protection of the law. This applies not just to a citizen but the Amendment states "any person" is covered under this section of the Amendment.--United States Constitution

Since the Equal Protection Clause applies only to States, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment applies to the Federal government.

A law must have a good reason for treating people differently.

RACE

• Brown v Board of Education (1954): Overturned the "Separate But Equal" doctrine of Plessy v Ferguson (1896).
• Heart of Atlanta Motel v United States (1964): Prohibited discrimination in places of public accommodation. 
• Loving v Virginia (1967): Two people from different races can marry.
• Regents of the University of California v Bakke (1978): Affirmative action.
• Grutter v Bollinger (2003): Affirmative action.

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

• Reed v Reed (1971): Women as estate administrators.
• Frontiero v Richardson (1973): Female soldier and her family.
• Charles E. Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1972): Male caregiver and the tax code.
• United States v Virginia (1996): Women's admission to a state-run all-male military school.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

• Romer v Evans (1996): Anti-gay amendment to State constitution. 

IMMIGRATION

• Plyler v Doe (1982): Illegal aliens attending public schools.

POVERTY

• San Antonio School District v Rodriguez (1973): Equality of State funding of public school districts.

POLITICS AND ELECTIONS

• Baker v Carr (1962): Challenges to reapportionment plans.
• Reynolds v Sims (1964): State legislature apportionment based on one man-one vote.
• Bush v Gore (2000): Florida's recount procedures violated the Equal Protection Clause.
• Evenwel v Abbott (2016): State legislature apportionment based on total population.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1953-2020)
"The Notorious RBG"
Public Domain

APPORTIONMENT AND VOTING

• Apportionment refers to the process by which representation in a legislature is distributed among its constituents
• For apportionment: Each inhabitant of a State, except Indians not taxed, is counted as a whole person for legislature apportionment.
• For voting: The right to vote is extended to all "male" citizens who are 21 years old. Introduces the word "male" the first time in the Constitution.
• The right to vote could be denied veterans and supporters of the Confederacy, who were regarded as traitors.
• Minor v Happersett (1875): Ruled that not all citizens had the right to vote. Constitutional amendments were needed to extend the right to vote to women and eighteen-year-olds. Felons in some States still can't vote.
• As of 2020, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the status of a felon's right to vote is:
  • In two Staes and the District of Columbia, felons never lose their right to vote, even while incarcerated.
  • 21 States automatically restore a felon's voting rights upon release.
  • 16 States restore a felon's voting rights after a time period after release. 
  • In 11 States, felons lose their voting right indefinitely, or have other conditions placed on their voting rights' restoration.

SECTION 3. TREASON

• Anyone who held a Federal office or certain State offices, and supported the Confederacy, were considered traitors. Therefore they were not allowed to hold Federal or State offices.
• Congress, by a two-thirds vote, could remove this restriction.
  • Congress removed it in 1898.

SECTION 4. CONFEDERATE DEBTS

• Neither the United States government nor the State governments were responsible for any Confederate debts..

SECTION 5. ENFORCEMENT

• Congress has the power to enforce this Amendment.

Unfortunately Native Americans have found themselves in a unique situation when it has come to their rights under the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court has often left it to Congress to determine the legal status of Native Americans due to Article 1 of the Constitution: Section 2. "Indians not taxed" exempted from Congressional representation; and Section 8: Congress regulates commerce with the Indian tribes.

• 1830. Indian Removal Act: leads to the The Trail of Tears in the 1830s.
• 1831. Cherokee Nation v Georgia: The Supreme court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the Cherokees' claims against the State of Georgia because the Cherokees were not a foreign nation.
• 1832. Worcester v. Georgia: Only the Federal government had authority to regulate the use of Indian land.
• 1871. Treaty making with the Indian tribes ended.
• 1877. All tribes forced to reservations.
• 1877. Chief Joseph of Nez Perce: "I will fight no more."
• 1884.Elk v Wilkins finds that Native Americans, even though assimilated, are not American citizens.
• 1887. Dawes Act: Break-up of Indian reservations and the assimilation of Native Americans.
• 1890. Wounded Knee Massacre.
• 1896. Indian Appropriations Act in 1896 ended funding to educate Native Americans in religious schools.
• 1924. Indian Citizenship Act.
• 1934. The "Indian New Deal" sets a new direction for Federal Native American policy.
• 1953. The Termination Act sought to abolish tribes.
• 1956. Indian Relocation Act.
• 1950s. Relocation of Plains Indians to urban centers leads to intertribal collaboration, beginning a modern renaissance of the Pow Wow ceremonies.
• 1965. Voting Rights Act.
• 1968. Indian Civil Rights Act.
• 1969. N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn (first novel of the "Native American Renaissance") wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
• 1971. Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
• 1973. American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee.
• 1961. National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) formed in Gallup, NM.
• 1963. As part of the Fish Wars, first fish-in at Frank's Landing.
• 1964. Fish-in protest of denial of fishing rights. Marlon Brando participated.
• 1968. AIM (American Indian Movement) founded in Minneapolis, Minn.
• 1969. AIM occupies Alcatraz.
• 1970. LaDonna Harris, Commanche, forms Americans for Indian Opportunity.
• 1971. U.S. settles Alaska Native Land claims.
• 1972. Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan.
• 1976. Federal government admits one in four American Indian women were sterilized without their consent.
• 1974. Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act enacted to relocate Navajos.
• 1975. Indian Self-determination becomes law.
• 2019. McGirt v Oklahoma: Supreme Court ruled that about half of Oklahoma is on Native American land.
• 2019. Joy Harjo, a Muscogee (Creek)  becomes first Native American Poet Laureate
• 2021. Deb Haaland of the New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo becomes the first Cabinet Secretary.