The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 28, 2025
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
The Equal Protection Clause, embedded in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, is now being used to dismantle the 1965 Voting Rights Act, opening the door to even more voter suppression. What’s its history, and why is it being used now?
The 14th Amendment passed in 1868 and granted citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans. The Equal Protection Clause reads, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Scholars agree it was intended to stop states from discriminating against Black Americans. Yet, as the National Constitution Center points out, it was also used to justify the U.S. Supreme Court’s Plessy vs. Ferguson, allowing discriminatory “separate but equal” schools, transportation and accommodations in 1896. Another interpretation overturned that decision in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. In 2023, it was used to eliminate race-based affirmative action for college admissions.
U.S. Supreme Court conservatives, notably Justices Alito and Thomas, argue any consideration of race is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. How might their interpretation impact voting rights? More on that in our next report.
Find our resources at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
National Archives – 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
U.S. Senate – Landmark Legislation: The Fourteenth Amendment
National Constitution Center – The Equal Protection Clause
National Archives – Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Cornell Law – Equal Protection
ABC News – Supreme Court allows what critics call ‘racial balancing’ at elite public school
U.S.
Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Constitutional Accountability Center
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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