Let's have a vote; Or, You may not be gay, but you may be next.
Which of these major steps forward in the arena of civil rights would you like to see up for a vote?
* Brown v. Board of Education (school desegregation, major blow against "separate but equal")
* Roe v. Wade (reproductive freedom)
* Shelley v. Kramer (racially restrictive "covenants" in real estate - This one's definitely on Glady's list)
* Bailey v. Patterson (segregation in intrastate and interstate transportation)
* Batson v. Kentucky (basically says you can't put, say, a Black person on trial and exclude Black people from the jury)
* Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (defined "hostile work environment" as sexual harassment under the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
* Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv. Inc. (same-sex harassment can be the basis for a sexual harassment claim)
* Romer v. Evans (overturned Colorado amendment prohibiting protection of LGBT rights)
* Lawrence v. Texas (decriminalized sodomy, overturned sodomy laws)
* Grisswold v. Connecticut (overturned law banning contraception, right to "marital privacy")
* And of course the major civil rights acts of:
o 1957 (established the Civil Rights Commission)
o 1960 (federal inspection of voter registration polls)
o 1964 (prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, and national origin)
o 1968 (Fair Housing Act)
Yes, we live in a representative democracy, but some times democracy needs a guiding principle (like the Constitution) and a guiding hand (like the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches) to protect it from the tyranny of the majority.
* Brown v. Board of Education (school desegregation, major blow against "separate but equal")
* Roe v. Wade (reproductive freedom)
* Shelley v. Kramer (racially restrictive "covenants" in real estate - This one's definitely on Glady's list)
* Bailey v. Patterson (segregation in intrastate and interstate transportation)
* Batson v. Kentucky (basically says you can't put, say, a Black person on trial and exclude Black people from the jury)
* Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (defined "hostile work environment" as sexual harassment under the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
* Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv. Inc. (same-sex harassment can be the basis for a sexual harassment claim)
* Romer v. Evans (overturned Colorado amendment prohibiting protection of LGBT rights)
* Lawrence v. Texas (decriminalized sodomy, overturned sodomy laws)
* Grisswold v. Connecticut (overturned law banning contraception, right to "marital privacy")
* And of course the major civil rights acts of:
o 1957 (established the Civil Rights Commission)
o 1960 (federal inspection of voter registration polls)
o 1964 (prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, and national origin)
o 1968 (Fair Housing Act)
Yes, we live in a representative democracy, but some times democracy needs a guiding principle (like the Constitution) and a guiding hand (like the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches) to protect it from the tyranny of the majority.
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