Preview

14th Amendment Definition

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
639 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
14th Amendment Definition
A provision on equal protection in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution looks towards protecting the civil rights of people living in the United States and has been used in defining the right of individuals and groups living in the country. In analyzing the provision of equal protection in the 14th amendment, the courts consider three aspects. First is the type of classification that a particular group falls through, for example, suspect classification or any other classification that the court can create and interpret. After determining the classification, the courts will determine the level of scrutiny applied to the identified class, whether it is a strict scrutiny or an intermediate scrutiny. Lastly is the determination of the kind of action that …show more content…
Analyzing this clause of the 14th amendment has become of great concern because of the difficulties in determining the suspect class, with a blurred line on what minority group comprises of the suspect class.
A suspect class comprises of a class of individuals who are historically subject to discrimination. This suspect class doctrine has been criticized for being under-theorized. The law is consistently applied and operating to limit the recognition of new suspect classes. It applies to the minority groups such as people discriminated by race, religious affiliation, a nation of origin or alienation in a statute, policy or ordinance. There are some benefits of being included in the suspect group by the law. There is a strict scrutiny applied by the Supreme Court to any law that makes a distinction between individuals based on their suspect classifications. This is because there is some suspect class discrimination that requires some form of strict judicial scrutiny. Members of the suspect group can file a case when they are subjected to any

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Did the Title VII section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (updated in 1991) go far enough and provide adequate protection for the U.S. workforce? For the vast majority of states, the answer is a resounding yes; most states defer to the federal legislation for employment-related discrimination laws. There are, however, a handful of states that have enacted their own versions of Title VII; in doing so, they are effectively saying that no, Title VII does not meet the needs of our state. One state that has enacted its own form of employment discrimination laws is Florida; in 1992, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992. Section 760.10 specifically addresses many of the same issues covered by Title VII protections. What is the same, and what is different, between the two Acts? This paper will summarize the two sets of laws, describe the similarities, and detail the distinct differences between Title VI, the federal law, and Section 760.10 of the Florida law.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apush Chapter 17 Terms

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Also issues on Constitutionality- court declared this act as unconstitutional, holding that the fourteenth amendment gave congress the power to outlaw discrimination by states, but not by private individuals.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In order to understand the cases that brought about the drastic change in the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the three clauses of the 14th Amendment must be understood. These clauses help define what it means to be a U.S. citizen. The privileges or immunities clause was first written in Article IV section two. It was then written again in the 14th Amendment after slavery was abolished in order for equal protection guarantee. The federal government wanted to insure that states respected the rights and freedoms of former slaves. In the first section of the 14th Amendment it states, “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United states.” This clause was written so that…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868, which addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. The 14th Amendment formed the bases for landmark decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which was regards to racial segregation. Roe v. Wade in 1973, in regards to abortion, and the most recent of 2015 was Obergefell v. Hodges, in regards to same sex marriage. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution contains four sections. The first section guarantees citizenship to any and all persons born or naturalized in U.S. Also, it guarantees all Americans their constitutional rights and denies states the right to limit through legislation where they are.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 14th Amendment

    • 1800 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Fourteenth Amendment was a direct outgrowth of the national debate over slavery1, and the subsequent emancipation of the slaves during the Civil War. In the aftermath of that war, Congress confronted a number of thorny issues: what would be done about the rebel leaders? Would the defeated states contribute to paying off the Union’s debts? Would slave owners be compensated for the loss of their property? What measures would be required of the defeated states as a condition of their full re-admittance to the Union? Two cases that took place before the creation of the Fourteenth Amendment are particularly important, considering that in a way or another they would help shape this Amendment: Barron vs. Baltimore and Dred Scott vs. Sanford.…

    • 1800 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Bill of rights, the constitution and the amendments of the constitution are the national foundation of freedom. The 14th amendment has become one of the most important parts of the constitution. The 14th amendment is divided into four sections. The 14th Amendment was designed in 1868 to stamp out lawless tyranny. Section one is to make former slaves citizens. The 14th amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. Nor shall any state deprive any person of liberty or property without due process of law”. However, since the 14th…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The tenth and fourteenth amendment are both very controversial amendments that are critical to our lives. The original purpose of the tenth amendment is that any power not given to the federal government is given to the states and the people. The fourteenth amendment’s original purpose was to grant citizenship to former slaves. Now it is used to grant citizenship and equal protection regardless of your race; “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside. [...] nor deny to any person the equal protection of the laws.”…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Stop and Frisk for Law

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Maclin, Tracey. (1998). Race and the fourth amendment. Vanderbilt Law Review, 51(2), 333-393. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198902289?accountid=27899…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Suspect Classification

    • 284 Words
    • 1 Page

    Suspect Classification a presumptively unconstitutional distinction made between individuals on the basis of race, national origin, alienage, or religious affiliation, in a statute, ordinance, regulation, or policy. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that certain kinds of government discrimination are inherently suspect and must be subjected to strict judicial scrutiny. The suspect classification doctrine has its constitutional basis in the Fifth Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and it applies to actions taken by federal and state governments.…

    • 284 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kouakou Koffi Professor Sharifian GOVT 2305 07 October 2017 Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This passage drawn from the Declaration of the United States Independence encompasses two notions, which at first glance look like the same, the Civil Liberties and the Civil Rights also known as Equal Rights. The laws enacted from these rights, even after all the efforts provided to make them fit to U.S. citizen’s live, are still subject of conflict when it comes to apply them. In this reflection, after an attempt of definition of each term, similarities and differences of both of them will be subject of analysis on one hands and on the other hands which sequence of them impact the most our everyday life.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The 14th Amendment

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Before the time of the fourteenth amendment the only people that were protected under the Bill of Rights was the white men. Once the Emancipation Proclamation passed the government thought that it would be beneficial to have in writing that the blacks had equal rights to the white male. This was not the only important addition to the constitution with the passing of the fourteenth amendment, but it was the major one.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Class Apart Film

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The class of Constitution and Criminal Law was very appealing to me because, I would like to know more of my rights as an individual, apart from needing the class for my minor. The PowerPoint slides are very informational and during class lecture and discussion opens up an array of ideas and discussion, which keeps me attentive to lean and absorb more of the subject at hand. What I am going to discuss is the film we saw in which in my opinion is a very great film because we rarely hear about Mexican/Hispanic history, ironically it was shown during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The film discusses about the Hispanic people of Mexican descent to be rated as second class citizens, non-intelligent and invisible. Basically, Hispanics and Blacks were segregated from many places and this was enforced by laws, even where you were buried was separate from the Anglo-Saxons. World War II came about and more than 200,000 served in the military, many Hispanics thought that after this happened, when they got home, they felt that they earned their rights. But still nothing has changed when they came back, one of the Hispanic soldiers that served came back in a coffin and the morgues did not accept the soldier because he was brown and the whites did not accept it. This was a turning point where enough was enough, Mexican-American lawyers stepped in and would fight for their 14th amendment rights, and they had won in the state but still did not enforce it because the Hispanics were still second class citizens. Hispanic Lawyers had to find a case that would be appealing, Gus Garcia a very prominent lawyer received a case where a Hispanic was being tried for murder. Mr. Garcia objected that the Hispanic defendant did not have a jury of his peers because they were all white, the lawyers had proof of all the statistics that no Hispanic individual served in any type of jury. Garcia reached out to Cadena for additional help because the man who was on trial for murder was…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Racial Profiling

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages

    ethnic) characteristics help the police to target those more likely to be criminals.” They are stating they will apprehend more criminals by using racial profiling. Ryberg’s major arguing factors are that the cost to benefit ratio is not worth it. Ryberg points out that terrorists adapt to the racial profiling and prove it is non-beneficial. The final argument presented is profiling a specific minority may help to decrease the sum of violations but at the same time increase the criminal rate as a whole by failing to notice the large number of inhabitants in our society.…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative Action is any effort taken to expand opportunity for women or racial, ethnic and national origin minorities by using membership in those groups that have been subject to discrimination as a consideration. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. As a result, Affirmative action is not consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment. In this essay, I will first discuss the violation of Affirmative Action against the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, how Affirmative Action helps one group of people while leaving out the other groups of people.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Suspect classification is a class that has been historically discriminated. Strict Scrutiny is used by the courts and in which determine whether an act by the president , national, congress, or state is valid. Scrutiny is applied to the classifications that are unproven to violate constitutional rights to equal protection. Laws that treat people differently based on race and gender do violate the constitution requirements for “Equal Treatment” because for example, no person can be detained in jail for a crime unless directed by a jurisdiction. Equal protection comes into place where in states no person with life can be derived with life, liberty, or property. Strict Scrutiny is the standard that engages affirmative action cases. There are 3…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays