Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and the Empire State

Transcription

1 Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and the Empire State Course Developed by Julia Rose Kraut, JD, Ph.D. Judith S. Kaye Teaching Fellow Historical Society of the New York Courts *Course for College Students or High School Students This course was originally designed as a college elective for Bard High School Early College students in New York City. The course is best for undergraduate students or advanced high school students in 11th or 12th grade (having already taken an American History course), but it is flexible. Instructors should modify this course and tailor it to serve their specific students and curricular requirements. Instructors should eliminate, substitute, or supplement the cases, readings, and assignments, as needed. For example, quizzes and a final exam could replace the case briefs and final paper. Instructors may also want to incorporate portions of this course or specific readings, legal cases, and Supreme Court or New York court opinions into existing courses or lesson plans. Course Description In this course, students examine the history of civil liberties and civil rights in the United States from the American Revolution to the present, while they learn about the role of New York and its courts. Students will gain a greater understanding of how law and the courts have helped to shape history and pave the way for the nation s current freedoms, protections, and challenges. They will explore the struggle for freedom, equality, and protection through activism, legislation, and litigation, while learning to read and brief court cases and to place them in historical context. Subjects include racial, gender, and LGBTQ discrimination, freedom of expression, reproductive rights, labor, immigration, and how this history connects to the War on Terror, the Fight for $15, and Black Lives Matter. Course Structure In this course, students learn how to read and analyze court decisions, as they explore how the past and the present have influenced the law and its interpretation over time. In the classroom, students will engage in discussions and debates, work in groups to review their work, complete in-class writing assignments, and deliver final paper presentations. Outside of the classroom, each week students will read primary or secondary sources and write a 2-page response paper, as well as analyze a Supreme Court or New York court opinion and write a 3-page case brief (a law schoollevel written outline used to understand court decisions). At the end of the semester, students will submit a 10-page final paper on a legal case or controversy, where they will use legal and non-legal sources and address the context, outcome, and legal and historical legacy of this case or controversy. 1

2 Course Readings and References Required Selected Primary and Secondary Source Readings (legal and historical documents, case stories, textbook or online summaries, political cartoons, documentaries, newspaper or magazine articles, and essays in the Historical Society of the New York Courts publication Judicial Notice). Required Selected US Supreme Court and New York court opinions (excerpted or in full). Recommended Melvin Urofsky and Paul Finkelman, A March of Liberty: A Constitutional History of the United States, Vol. I & II, Third Edition (Oxford University Press, 2011). Recommended Kermit L. Hall, Paul Finkelman, James W. Ely, Jr., American Legal History: Cases and Materials, Fourth Edition (Oxford University Press, 2011). Recommended The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Tradition, edited by Timothy Patrick McCarthy and John McMillian (The New Press, 2003). Reference Historical Society of the New York Courts Judicial Notice issues: Reference New York court decisions and New York court structure and overview: Reference US Supreme Court opinions and Supreme Court structure and overview: Course Requirements Class Participation students are expected to come to each class prepared, having completed the assigned reading and with any written assignments (case briefs, response papers, and final papers) to hand-in at the beginning or at the end of class. Students are also expected to fully participate in class discussions and debates, in-class writing exercises, and all group work and case brief reviews. Written Assignments Weekly Case Briefs (3 pages) - Briefing a case to understand the court s decision and reasoning. Weekly Response papers (2 pages) - Reacting to and reflecting on the assigned course readings. Final Paper (10 pages) - Examining a case or controversy and placing it in historical context. Grading Class Participation 25% Weekly Case Briefs 25% Reading Responses 25% Final Paper & Presentation 25% 2

3 Course Calendar, Readings, and Cases I. Foundations: Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Federalism Week 1 Week 2 Introduction to the Course Colonial Law and the John Peter Zenger Case Readings: Urofsky, pp. 1-42, Crown v. John Peter Zenger (1735) see American Revolution, the Constitution, New York Libel Law, Alexander Hamilton Readings: Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, US Constitution (and Bill of Rights), George Washington s Farewell Address (1796), Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), Judicial Notice, issue 7 - Paul McGrath, People v. Croswell (1804). II. Civil Rights and Equality: Race, Gender, and a Nation of Immigrants Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Slavery and Abolitionism in New York and the States Readings: Abolitionism - American Anti-Slavery Society, Garrison s The Liberator, David Walker, Angelina Grimké, Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), Lemmon v. People of New York (1860) - Judicial Notice, issue 4 John D. Gordan, III The Lemmon Slave Case. The Legacies of Slavery and Civil War: Reconstruction and Jim Crow Readings: Abraham Lincoln s House Divided Speech, Cooper Union Address, and Second Inaugural Address, NY Draft Riots 1863, Mississippi Black Codes, Enforcement Acts, Civil Rights Acts 1866, 1875, Reconstruction Amendments, Civil Rights Cases (1883), Strauder v. West Virginia (1880), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). The Woman Question: Coverture, Suffrage, Citizenship, Equal Rights Amendment Readings: New York Married Women s Property Act, Seneca Falls, NWSA, New York Trial of Susan B. Anthony, National Woman s Party, Alice Paul and ERA, 19th Amendment, Bradwell v. Illinois (1873), Minor v. Happersett (1875). Behind the Golden Door: Ellis Island, New York, and Immigration Restrictions Readings: The New Colossus, Naturalization Act 1870, Chinese Immigration and Exclusion, Immigration Acts (1891 to 1924), nativist political cartoons, Emanuel Celler/Fiorello LaGuardia memoir excerpts, West Side Story America, Henderson v. Mayor of the City of New York (1875), Chae Chan Ping v. US (1889), Nishimura Ekiu v. US (1892), Fong Yue Ting v. US (1893), US v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). III. Civil Liberties and Freedom: Radical Speech, Labor Protection, and the Lochner Era Week 7 Suppression of Expression: Free Speech in New York and the First Amendment Readings: Primary source selections on Radicalism (Haymarket Affair to Red Scare), New York s Constitution and Criminal Anarchy Law, World War I and Syndicalism legislation, Most v. New York (1902), Masses v. Patten (SDNY, 1917), Schenck v. US (1919), Abrams v. US (1919), Gitlow v. New York (1925), Whitney v. California (1927). 3

4 Week 8 Week 9 The Age of Reform and Lochner: Labor in New York and Substantive Due Process Readings: Working Men s Party, Knights of Labor, People s Party, AFL, IWW, and Socialist platforms, uprising of 20,000 - Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, New York cases & legislation reform, Frances Perkins, Lochner v. New York (1905), Muller v. Oregon (1908)-Brandeis Brief, Adkins v. Children s Hospital (1923), Hague v. CIO (1939). Franklin Roosevelt s New Deal, Benjamin N. Cardozo, and World War II Readings: New Deal legislation, Judicial Notice, issue 6, Judith Kaye s Biography of Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, FDR s Four Freedoms, Schechter Poultry Corp. v. US (1935), West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937), Wickard v. Filburn (1942), West Virginia State Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette (1943), Korematsu v. United States (1944). IV. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties from World War II to the War on Terror Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 America s Second Reconstruction: New York and the Civil Rights Movement Readings: Marcus Garvey, A. Philip Randolph s Why Should We March? Harlem Riots and Commission on Human Rights, MLK s Birmingham Jail letter, Southern Decl. on Integration, Malcolm X s Ballot or Bullet, Black Panther Party What We Want, New York Housing, New York School Student & Teachers Strikes, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Sweatt v. Painter (1950), Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Katzenbach v. McClung (1964), Loving v. Virginia (1967), Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978). Second Wave Feminism, Gender Equality, Reproduction, and the Right to Privacy Readings: Betty Friedan s Feminine Mystique, NOW, ERA, Phyllis Schlafly, McSorley s NY Gender Discrimination case (1970), Judicial Notice, issue 9, Maria R. Vullo - People v. Sanger, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Roe v. Wade (1973), Craig v. Boren (1976), Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), US v. Morrison (2000). Gay Liberation and LGBTQ Rights: Fight for Equality in New York Readings: Gay Liberation (in NY Sip In, Stonewall Riots, Gay Power, Gay Liberation Manifesto (1971), ACT UP, Marriage Equality). New York nondiscrimination and marriage legislation Judge Kaye s dissent in NY Court of Appeals case Robles v. Hernandez (2006), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), Lawrence v. Texas (2003), United States v. Windsor (2013), Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Protection of Expression: Free Speech in New York and the First Amendment Readings: McCarthyism, protests Civil Rights, Vietnam in 1960s & 1970s, Feiner v. New York (1951), Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949). New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967), Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), Cohen v. CA (1971), New York Times Co v. US (1971). Immigration Reform and the Refugee Crisis Readings: Articles on immigration reform and refugees, unique assimilation in New York, Dreamers, New York as a Sanctuary City, Immigration Acts 1965, 1986, John F. Kennedy s Nation of Immigrants (1958) and President Barack Obama s Address to New Citizens (2015), Padilla v. KY (2010), DAPA US v. Texas (2016). 4

5 Week 15 Week 16 War on Terror, Fight for $15, and Black Lives Matter - Criminal Justice in New York Readings: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment discussion, search and seizure, 9/11 Attacks, USA PATRIOT Act, and War on Terror (including detention, surveillance, and censorship issues), sharing economy (UBER & Airbnb), rise of labor activism on minimum wage (Fight for $15), and protections (nail salons), Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality and Eric Garner case, New York Stop and Frisk, Handschu Guidelines, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), Katz v. US (1967), Floyd v. City of New York (2013), Turkmen v. Ashcroft, Legal Aid nail salon lawsuit wage theft. Final Papers Due and Class Presentations Sample Case Brief Structure Case Name and Citation Facts of the Case Procedural or Prior History - Question Presented Case Holding - Analysis - Majority - Name (i.e., Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)) italicized with citation -Plaintiff v. Defendant, Petitioner v. Respondent, Appellant v. Appellee The moving party is always the first party name in the case. The moving party is the one bringing the action (the party who is suing, prosecuting, or appealing). Background description. Who are the parties to this case? How did this case end up in court? What s going on? What is the dispute? If this decision is an appeal, how did the lower courts decide this case? (i.e., District Court held in favor of the appellee, the Appellate Court affirmed (or reversed) the District Court, and the case is now before this present Court on appeal). This is the question the Court is deciding. Should be written in the form of a question (i.e., Is Louisiana s law requiring racial segregation on its trains unconstitutional, as a violation of the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment?). The answer to the Question Presented Yes or No. (i.e., No. The Court held that the Louisiana law was constitutional and did not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment). This is the section where you discuss the reasoning behind the Court s holding. It s the why? after the answer to the Question Presented. Here you examine the Court s majority opinion and also if there are any concurring opinions (a separate opinion written by a justice or judge who agrees with the majority s holding, but may differ on the reasoning behind the holding). This is also the place where you will include the rule or legal precedent or legal principle established by the majority opinion. This is the part that will be used to evaluate similar cases in the future. (i.e., in Plessy, the Court found that separate but equal train cars were constitutional and did not violate equal protection. After the case, the Court will evaluate similar state segregation laws by applying this separate but equal rule). Analysis - Dissent - If there is one, you will discuss a dissenting opinion in this section (an opinion written by one or more justices or judges in the minority expressing the reasons why he or she does not agree with the majority). You will examine the reasons why the author of this dissenting opinion disagreed with the majority. 5