Due Process and Equal Protection Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Due Process and Equal Protection flashcards as text
What does the 'incorporation doctrine' accomplish in constitutional law?
Answer: It applies most Bill of Rights protections to state governments through the 14th Amendment
The incorporation doctrine uses the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause to apply most protections in the Bill of Rights against state government action, not just federal action.
Which Supreme Court case held that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry under the 14th Amendment?
Answer: Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment.
Which Reconstruction-era amendment was ratified specifically to abolish slavery throughout the United States?
Answer: 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
What does 'selective incorporation' mean in constitutional law?
Answer: Only certain Bill of Rights provisions are applied to states through the 14th Amendment, as cases arise
Selective incorporation means the Supreme Court applies Bill of Rights protections to states one provision at a time as cases arise, rather than incorporating all of them at once.
Which best describes what 'equal protection' under the 14th Amendment requires of government?
Answer: The government cannot arbitrarily discriminate against similarly situated persons without sufficient justification
Equal protection prohibits government from arbitrarily discriminating against similarly situated people; it does not demand identical treatment but requires sufficient justification for distinctions.
Which companion case to Brown v. Board of Education applied equal protection principles to the federal government via the 5th Amendment?
Answer: Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)
Bolling v. Sharpe (1954), decided the same day as Brown, applied equal protection principles to the federal government through the 5th Amendment's Due Process Clause since the 14th Amendment only binds states.
What was the primary purpose of the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause, ratified in 1868?
Answer: To grant citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States
The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, directly overturning the Dred Scott decision that had denied citizenship to African Americans.