Equal Protections under the Constitution Answers

The purpose of the Equal Rights Amendment is to guarantee equal rights for all citizens

Which statement best describes the process of amending the US Constitution?

Read the summary of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court case.The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court case combined five different cases centering on state-sponsored segregation in public schools. Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Supreme Court justice, argued the case against school segregation. In the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court had ruled that separate facilities for black and white people were legal as long as there was no meaningful difference in the quality of the facilities. This became known as the "separate but equal” rule. Marshall argued that separate schools could never be equal and were thus unconstitutional.

Read remarks by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in the majority opinion for the Obergefell v. Hodges case. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry.[T]he right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. Same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. Baker v. Nelson is overruled. The State laws challenged by the petitioners in these cases are held invalid to the extent they exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples.—Anthony M. Kennedy, June 26, 2015

Which group gained the right to vote with the passage of the 26th Amendment?

How many members of Congress must approve a proposal to begin the amendment process?

Read the summary of the United States v. Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case.Wong Kim Ark was born in 1873 in the United States to parents who were Chinese citizens living and working in San Francisco. In 1895, Wong was denied entry to the United States when returning from a trip to China. US officials claimed that Wong was not an American citizen because China traced citizenship through bloodlines. Rather than accept the decision, Wong challenged the ruling on the grounds of the 14th Amendment. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court. In 1898, the court ruled in a 6–2 decision that Wong was an American citizen based on his birth in the United States.

The 15th Amendment protects the right to vote based on which category?

Read the passage on the 14th Amendment.The 14th Amendment was one of three Reconstruction amendments passed after the Civil War. Section 2 of the amendment overturns the three-fifths rule for determining state representation in the US House of Representatives. It also declares that states cannot deny voting rights to male citizens 21 and older unless they have participated in a crime. The voting restriction was meant to punish Confederates for rebelling in the Civil War. However, states have used the restriction to prevent people convicted of crimes from voting.

Read the scenario.It is November of 1920. Across the country, people are voting in the first presidential election since the passage of the 19th Amendment. Two sisters named Hettie and Elizabeth are excited to become the first women in their family to vote. However, when they arrive at the polling place, they discover that they have to pay a tax to vote. Another woman in the line, who is a Black American, like the sisters, also has to pay a tax. However, the White American women waiting to vote do not have to pay. Unable to afford the tax, Hettie and Elizabeth are prevented from voting.