Exam 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle

As a result of the increasingly pervasive role of government in American society, some observers have advocated that the Supreme Court abandon its long-standing distinction between "state" and "private" action. Do you agree with this proposal?

In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana law requiring racial segregation _________________.

Are state laws limiting marriage to heterosexual couples consistent with the 14th Amendment's requirement that states provide "equal protection of the laws" to persons within their jurisdiction?

In Plyler v. Doe (1982), the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that denied access to public education to the children of illegal aliens by applying the ________________ test.

In the wake of the Civil War, many of the Southern states had adopted the so-called __________, which denied basic economic rights to former slaves.

In Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center (1985), the Supreme Court struck down a zoning law which had been applied to prohibit a home for ________ from operating in a residential neighborhood.

In the modern era the Equal Protection Clause has been invoked successfully to challenge discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, as well as discrimination against ________.

In adopting the Civil Rights Act of _____, Congress made attempted to eradicate racial discrimination in "places of public accommodation," including hotels, taverns, restaurants, theaters and "public conveyances."

Can the U.S. Supreme Court justify a more demanding standard for adjudging racial discrimination than the standard it applies to gender discrimination? What about age discrimination? Discrimination based on disability?

Can the Supreme Court's holding in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) be reconciled with Grutter v. Bolinger (2003)? Are the cases distinguishable?

In _________________, the Supreme Court struck down the plans of public school districts in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky to create a degree of racial balance between whites and nonwhites in their public high schools by basing student admissions in part on racial criteria.