“An Abominable Conclave of Negro Hating Demons”

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Andre E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Over Time

Chapter 1 charts Turner’s acrimonious “relationship” with the Supreme Court. Starting with the Civil Rights Bill of 1875, the chapter examines how Turner’s support and belief that the Supreme Court could or would do anything to promote fairness and protect the rights of African Americans eroded over time. For Turner, as decision after decision nullified the spirit of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, and moved America from the progress of Reconstruction, Turner’s rhetoric towards the Supreme Court and against the nation grew more bitter and his denouncements became much stronger.

African-American Press Coverage of Clarence Thomas Nomination

1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 98-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Fearn-Banks
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
American Press

The nomination of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court posed a dilemma for African-American newspapers because they had to choose between supporting African-Americans and supporting civil rights. Their mixed coverage of the story reflects this dilemma.

The Spirit of Brown

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy L. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
National Narrative ◽  
Racial Oppression ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Racial History ◽  
Black Equality ◽  
Racial Progress ◽  
Race Problem

This chapter lays the foundation for an understanding of the socio-legal race problem and possible solutions. It begins with the Supreme Court’s inglorious racial history in which the Court, from Dred Scott up to Brown v. Board of Education, engaged in a pattern and practice of sabotaging black equality granted by Congress. Racial oppression, including the torture and murder of blacks without trial, was part of a national narrative largely written by the Supreme Court. Brown was a conscious attempt by the Court to reverse its inglorious racial past. Brown had a profound effect on racial progress, changing the legal status of blacks which in turn greatly improved their socioeconomic and socio-cultural position in our society. But the Court, in the years following this landmark decision, did not remain faithful to the spirit of Brown. It began to impede black progress through its civil rights rulings by suppressing the black equality interest litigated in those cases. This is juridical subordination, which can be resolved if the Supreme Court remains faithful to the spirit of Brown. This is good social policy.

scholarly journals Patterson v. McLean: A Confirmation of the New Right at the U.S. Supreme Court

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 987-1009
Author(s):  
George M. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Reagan Administration ◽  
Ronald Reagan ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Presidential Appointments ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

In two consecutive national elections a conservative, Ronald Reagan, was elected President of the United States. When Justice Lewis Powell announced his retirement during the late months of the Reagan administration, it was apparent that the President's last appointment could shift the ideology of the Court to conservatism for the first time since the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. President Reagan's prior appointments, Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia, had joined William Rehnquist, an appointee of President Nixon and Bryon White, an appointee of President Kennedy to comprise a vociferous minority of four in many instances, especially cases involving civil rights. The unexpected opportunity for the appointment of a conservative jurist caused great anxiety in the media and in the U.S. Senate, the later having confirmation power over presidential appointments to the Supreme Court. This article examines the consequences of the Senate's confirmation of Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court. The impact, which was immediate and dramatic, indicates that conservative ideology will predominate on major civil rights issues for the remainder of this century.

THE INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS ON CONGRESS

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Charles Tien ◽  
Dena Levy
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
House Floor ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Over Time

AbstractIn this paper we approach, from a different angle than previous research, the question of whether gains in descriptive representation for African Americans result in losses in substantive representation. By looking at how the presence of African Americans has changed Congress over time, we assess the long-term impact of electing more African Americans to Congress on substantive representation. Specifically, we content analyze House floor debates on civil rights legislation, from 1957 to 1991, and find that Black members have influenced how White members talk about civil rights.

The Supreme Court and Elites

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-58
Author(s):  
Neal Devins ◽  
Lawrence Baum
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Ronald Reagan ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Good Policy

This chapter develops the argument that is summarized in chapter 1. One lesson of social psychology is that Supreme Court justices are not single-mindedly devoted to making good law or good policy. Rather, they have multiple goals that include a concern for their reputations, especially how they are regarded by the elite groups of which they are part. As a result, while the general public may have an impact on the justices, they respond primarily to fellow elites. Indeed, the Court’s decisions on most controversial social issues such as affirmative action and same-sex marriage are more consistent with the policy positions of highly educated people than the positions of the public as a whole. Starting with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, elites have become less homogeneous; over the past 25 years, today’s elites increasingly reflect the growing partisan divide among liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. Nonetheless, norms within the elite legal profession such as collegiality and legally oriented decision making shape the behavior of justices, sometimes counteracting the effects of ideology.

2. The Court at work (1)

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Linda Greenhouse
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Administrative State ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Administrative Agencies ◽  
Over Time

A very small percentage of cases reach the Supreme Court. “The Court at Work” explains that even if a case meets all the criteria, the justices are still at liberty to refuse it. The Court has navigated debates about the separation of powers and conflicting approaches to interpretations of the statutes. The growth of the administrative state means that the Court is now more often tasked with determining whether administrative agencies are carrying out their duties correctly. What do cases and controversies mean to the Supreme Court? Why are these terms important, and how have the Court’s interpretations of them changed over time?

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