117-695: The Enforcement Act of 1871 (17 Stat. 13 ), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act , Third Enforcement Act , Third Ku Klux Klan Act , Civil Rights Act of 1871 , or Force Act of 1871 , is an Act of the United States Congress that was intended to combat the paramilitary vigilantism of the Ku Klux Klan . The act made certain acts committed by private persons federal offenses including conspiring to deprive citizens of their rights to hold office, serve on juries, or enjoy
234-467: A grandfather clause to its literacy requirement due to Supreme Court cases. From early in the 20th century, the newly established National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) took the lead in organizing or supporting legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement. Gradually they planned the strategy of which cases to take forward. In Guinn v. United States (1915),
351-608: A joint resolution of Congress . During Little, Brown and Company's time as publisher, Richard Peters (Volumes 1–8), George Minot (Volumes 9–11), and George P. Sanger (Volumes 11–17) served as editors. In 1874, Congress transferred the authority to publish the Statutes at Large to the Government Printing Office under the direction of the Secretary of State. Pub. L. 80–278 , 61 Stat. 633,
468-589: A literacy test or comprehension test. This was defended openly, on the floor of the Senate, by South Carolina Senator and former Governor Benjamin Tillman : In my State there were 135,000 negro voters, or negroes of voting age, and some 90,000 or 95,000 white voters. ... Now, I want to ask you, with a free vote and a fair count, how are you going to beat 135,000 by 95,000? How are you going to do it? You had set us an impossible task. We did not disfranchise
585-433: A First Amendment retaliatory arrest claim arising under section 1983, but that there are some narrow exceptions to this. Because officers can exercise their discretion in making arrests for warrantless misdemeanor crimes, a plaintiff can succeed on a section 1983 claim if they can present objective evidence that other similarly situated individuals who were not engaged in protected speech had not been arrested. Also in 2019,
702-735: A Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." But, in Maryland , Jewish Americans were excluded from state office until the law requiring candidates to affirm a belief in an afterlife was repealed in 1828. At the time of ratification of the Constitution in the late 18th century, most states had property qualifications which restricted the franchise; the exact amount varied by state, but by some estimates, more than half of white men were disenfranchised. Several states granted suffrage to free men of color after
819-626: A controlled role and reestablish white supremacy. The United States Army and Department Of Justice were successfully able to disband the Klan through prosecution and black freedmen registered and voted in high numbers, many of whom were elected to local offices through the 1880s. In the mid-1870s, the insurgencies continued with a rise in more powerful white paramilitary groups , such as the White League , originating in Louisiana in 1874 after
936-562: A court case that set the precedent that Alaska Natives were legally allowed to vote. In 1925, a literacy test was passed in Alaska to suppress the votes of Alaska Natives. After passage of the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945 , Alaska Natives gained more rights, but there was still voter discrimination. When Alaska became a state, the new Constitution of Alaska provided Alaskans with a more lenient literacy test. In 1970,
1053-679: A disputed gubernatorial election; and the Red Shirts , originating in Mississippi in 1875 and developing numerous chapters in North and South Carolina ; as well as other "White Line" rifle clubs. They operated openly, were more organized than the KKK, and directed their efforts at political goals: to disrupt Republican organizing, turn Republicans out of office, and intimidate or kill blacks to suppress black voting. They worked as "the military arm of
1170-459: A federal candidate for public office. Section 6 of the Act, now codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1986 and known as "Section 1986", imposes civil liability upon persons who know of a violation of Section 1985 or a planned violation of Section 1985, and who are in a position to prevent it, but who fail to prevent it, fail to attempt to prevent it, or fail to assist in its prevention. While the other sections create
1287-517: A fundamental role in establishing the nationwide "one man, one vote" electoral system . In cases of county or municipal elections, winner-take-all systems in at-large districts have been repeatedly challenged as diluting the voting power of racial minorities, violating the Voting Rights Act. Generally the solution to such violations has been to adopt single-member districts (SMDs), but systems of proportional representation such as
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#17327733859581404-458: A judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia. Section 1983 made relief—in
1521-534: A majority in three Southern states following the Civil War, and represented over 40% of the population in four other states and many whites feared and resented the political power exercised by freedmen. After ousting the Republicans, whites worked to restore white supremacy. Although elections were often surrounded by violence, blacks continued to vote and gained many local offices in the late 19th century. In
1638-704: A means of reducing the number of voters. The American Civil Rights Movement , through such events as the Selma to Montgomery marches and Freedom Summer in Mississippi, gained passage by the United States Congress of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which authorized federal oversight of voter registration and election practices and other enforcement of voting rights. Congress passed the legislation because it found "case by case litigation
1755-471: A new era of civil liberties for Asian Americans who were in the voting minority. A parallel, yet separate, movement was that for women's suffrage . Leaders of the suffrage movement included Susan B. Anthony , Elizabeth Cady Stanton , Carrie Chapman Catt , and Alice Paul . In some ways this, too, could be said to have grown out of the American Civil War , as women had been strong leaders of
1872-421: A person of equal protection under the law. Section 1985(1) covers conspiracies to violently prevent a public official from taking office or to "molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede" the discharge of official duties, among other acts. Section 1985(2) addresses conspiracies to harm or threaten witnesses and jurors in federal courts, or to otherwise interfere with court proceedings, "with intent to deny to any citizen
1989-485: A person's ethnicity, and if the person was white, they could proceed with the immigration process. While the Chinese Exclusion Act specifically targeted and banned the influx of Asian immigrants looking for work on the west coast due to the country that they were from and their ethnicity. Without the ability to become an American citizen, Asian immigrants were prohibited from voting or even immigrating to
2106-487: A proper cause of action. Circumstances changed in 1961 when the Supreme Court of the United States articulated three purposes that underlie the statute: "1) 'to override certain kinds of state laws'; 2) to provide 'a remedy where state law was inadequate'; and 3) to provide 'a federal remedy where the state remedy, though adequate in theory, was not available in practice.' " A §1983 claim requires according to
2223-521: A qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State". The 1778 Constitution of the State of South Carolina stated, "No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion", the 1777 Constitution of the State of Georgia (art. VI) that "The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county ... and they shall be of
2340-410: A qualified voter before 1866, or had served as a soldier, or was from a foreign country. As most blacks had grandfathers who were slaves before 1866 and could not have fulfilled any of those conditions, they could not use the grandfather clause exemption. Selective enforcement of the poll tax was frequently also used to disqualify black and poor white voters. As a result of these measures, at the turn of
2457-441: A remedy against conspirators who deprived people of their rights, Section 1986 creates a remedy against persons whose acquiescence make such conspiracies possible. Legislators recognized that the Klan's political violence could not continue without tacit approval from local community leaders, and sought to stop the Klan by making community leaders financially responsible for terrorist acts they knowingly fail to prevent. This section of
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#17327733859582574-470: A result the KKK was completely dismantled (ending the "first Klan" era) and did not resurface in any meaningful way until the beginning of the 20th century. Several of the act's provisions still exist today as codified statutes. The most important of these is section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ) entitled as ' Civil action for deprivation of rights' . It
2691-700: A state actor violates a federally guaranteed right. The most common use today is to redress violations of the Fourth Amendment 's protection against unreasonable search and seizure . Such lawsuits concern false arrest and police brutality , most notably in the Rodney King case . The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement along with smart phone video cameras have made Section 1983 lawsuits easier to obtain because of technological advances, including bodycams worn by law enforcement. The Act
2808-484: A subsequent action filed August 26, 2021, by seven Capitol Police officers , reportedly against the same defendants. United States Statutes at Large The United States Statutes at Large , commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large and abbreviated Stat. , are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress . Each act and resolution of Congress
2925-693: A three-part process, consisting of slip laws, session laws ( Statutes at Large ), and codification ( United States Code ). Large portions of public laws are enacted as amendments to the United States Code . Once enacted into law, an Act will be published in the Statutes at Large and will add to, modify, or delete some part of the United States Code. Provisions of a public law that contain only enacting clauses, effective dates, and similar matters are not generally codified . Private laws also are not generally codified. Some portions of
3042-489: A voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined." In the 17th-century Thirteen Colonies , suffrage was often restricted by property qualifications or with a religious test . In 1660, Plymouth Colony restricted suffrage with a specified property qualification, and in 1671, Plymouth Colony restricted suffrage further to only freemen " orthodox in
3159-540: Is also known simply as "Section 1983", authorized monetary and injunctive relief against anyone who, acting under the authority of state law, deprived a person of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or federal law. Section 1983 is the most prominent and commonly-litigated civil rights statute. Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes now reads: Every person who under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or
3276-506: Is given considerable discretion to establish qualifications for suffrage and candidacy within its own respective jurisdiction; in addition, states and lower level jurisdictions establish election systems, such as at-large or single member district elections for county councils or school boards . Thus, the enfranchisement or disenfranchisement in one state may be stricter or more lenient than in another state. Beyond qualifications for suffrage, rules and regulations concerning voting (such as
3393-555: Is originally published as a slip law , which is classified as either public law (abbreviated Pub.L.) or private law (Pvt.L.), and designated and numbered accordingly. At the end of a congressional session, the statutes enacted during that session are compiled into bound books, known as "session law" publications. The United States Statutes at Large is the name of the session law publication for U.S. Federal statutes. The public laws and private laws are numbered and organized in chronological order. U.S. Federal statutes are published in
3510-494: Is the foundation of any democracy. Chief Justice Earl Warren , for example, wrote in Reynolds v. Sims , 377 U.S. 533, 555 (1964): "The right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government . [...] Undoubtedly, the right of suffrage is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society. Especially since
3627-566: Is the most widely used civil rights enforcement statute, allowing people to sue in civil court over civil rights violations. In response to political violence by the Ku Klux Klan and others during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War , Congress passed three Enforcement Acts giving the federal government broader powers to guarantee citizens' constitutional rights. The third of these acts, enacted in April 1871, gave
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3744-489: The Alaska Legislature ratified a constitutional amendment against state voter literacy tests. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), modified in 1975, provided additional help for Alaska Natives who do not speak English, which affects around 14 census areas . Many villages with large Alaska Native populations continue to face difficulties voting. In several British North American colonies before and after
3861-470: The American Civil War to grant freedmen full rights of citizenship, prevented any state from denying the right to vote to any citizen based on race. This was primarily related to protecting the franchise of freedmen, but it also applied to non-white minorities, such as Mexican Americans in Texas . The state governments under Reconstruction adopted new state constitutions or amendments designed to protect
3978-801: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 to implement the Fifteenth Amendment. It established the United States Civil Rights Commission ; among its duties is to investigate voter discrimination. As late as 1962, programs such as Operation Eagle Eye in Arizona attempted to stymie minority voting through literacy tests. The Twenty-fourth Amendment was ratified in 1964 to prohibit poll taxes as a condition of voter registration and voting in federal elections. Many states continued to use them in state elections as
4095-562: The Constitution , amendments to the Constitution , treaties with Native American nations and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations . Sometimes very large or long Acts of Congress are published as their own "appendix" volume of the Statutes at Large . For example, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was published as volume 68A of the Statutes at Large (68A Stat. 3 ). Voting rights in
4212-534: The Deep South , particularly in South Carolina . He felt that he needed to have his authority broadened before he could effectively intervene. After the act's passage, the president had the power for the first time to both suppress state disorders on his own initiative and to suspend the writ of habeas corpus . Grant did not hesitate to use this authority on numerous occasions during his presidency, and as
4329-462: The District of Columbia , subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws , shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, Suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against
4446-561: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 . Butler's bill was narrowly defeated in the House, whereupon Republican Rep. Samuel Shellabarger , of Ohio, introduced a substitute bill, only slightly less sweeping than Butler's original. This bill brought a few holdout Republicans into line, and the bill narrowly passed the House, sailed through the Senate, and was signed into law on April 20 by President Grant. After
4563-614: The Glorious Revolution (1688–1689) in Maryland , New York , Rhode Island , Carolina , and Virginia . In the 18th-century Thirteen Colonies , suffrage was restricted to European men with the following property qualifications: By the time the United States Constitution came into effect on March 9, 1789, a small number of free Blacks were among the voting citizens (men of property) in some states. The Constitution did not originally define who
4680-636: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Until 1948, all treaties and international agreements approved by the United States Senate were also published in the set, but these now appear in a publication titled United States Treaties and Other International Agreements , abbreviated U.S.T. In addition, the Statutes at Large includes the text of the Declaration of Independence , Articles of Confederation ,
4797-503: The Reconstruction Era to combat attacks upon the suffrage rights of African Americans . The statute has been subject to only minor changes since then, but has been the subject of voluminous interpretation by courts. This legislation was asked for by President Grant and passed within one month of when he sent the request to Congress. Grant's request was a result of the reports he was receiving of widespread racial threats in
Ku Klux Klan Act - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-638: The Republican National Committee under the act as well as the Voting Rights Act . According to the lawsuit, President Trump and the Republican Party "coordinated conspiracy to disenfranchise Black voters" through legal actions intended to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Michigan , Georgia and Pennsylvania via "intimidation and coercion of election officials and volunteers". In February 2021,
5031-509: The Standing Bear trial, were American Indians recognized as persons in the eyes of the United States government. Judge Elmer Scipio Dundy of Nebraska declared that Indians were people within the meaning of the laws, and they had the rights associated with a writ of habeas corpus . However, Judge Dundy left unsettled the question as to whether Native Americans were guaranteed US citizenship. Although Native Americans were born within
5148-714: The Texas Trump Train Incident during the 2020 Biden-Harris Presidential Campaign sued the City of San Marcos, Texas, and several individual defendants under the Ku Klux Klan Act in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. In 2023, San Marcos and two individual defendants settled with the plaintiffs. On September 23, 2004, a jury found one of the remaining six defendants liable for $ 30,000 in punitive damages to be split among
5265-738: The abolition movement. Middle- and upper-class women generally became more politically active in the northern tier during and after the war. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention , the first women's rights convention, was held in Seneca Falls, New York . Of the 300 present, 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments which defined the women's rights movement. The first National Women's Rights Convention took place in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts , attracting more than 1,000 participants. This national convention
5382-679: The constitutional convention of the United States . In 1787, Article One of the United States Constitution stated that "the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature ". More significantly, Article Six disavowed the religious test requirements of several states, saying: "[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as
5499-545: The poll tax ) have been contested since the advent of Jim Crow laws and related provisions that indirectly disenfranchised racial minorities. A historic turning point was the 1964 Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims that ruled both houses of all state legislatures had to be based on electoral districts that were approximately equal in population size, under the " one man, one vote " principle. The Warren Court 's decisions on two previous landmark cases— Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) —also played
5616-510: The single non-transferable vote and cumulative voting have also been used since the late 20th century to correct for dilution of voting power and enable minorities to elect candidates of their choice. Citizens living in U.S. territories cannot vote for president of the United States . However, those residing in the District of Columbia can vote for president as a result of the Twenty-third Amendment . The right to vote
5733-470: The writ of habeas corpus to suppress a rebellion. This section expired after one year. Section 5 barred persons violating the Act from sitting as jurors in any proceeding under the Act, and imposed an oath upon jurors not to violate the Act. Section 7 provided, "nothing herein contained shall be construed to supersede or repeal any former act or law except so far as the same may be repugnant thereto", and that prosecutions "shall be continued and completed,
5850-444: The 1776 Declaration of Independence , certain individuals such as Jews , Quakers , Catholics or atheists were excluded from the franchise or from running for elections. The Delaware Constitution of 1776 stated that "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall ... also make and subscribe
5967-400: The Act has been rarely invoked since its enactment, but is used to combat terrorism in modern times by providing a "disincentive to those who would protect or foster conspiratorial terrorist acts". Section 3 authorized the president to use the military to suppress domestic violence and conspiracies to deprive people of their constitutional rights. Section 4 authorized the president to suspend
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#17327733859586084-560: The Act was asserted in an action in the District Court, D.C. , by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D, MS2) , chair of the House Homeland Security Committee (in his personal capacity) against former President Donald Trump (in his personal capacity), Trump's attorney Rudolph Giuliani and ( far-right "militia" groups ) Proud Boys and Oath Keepers . The Thompson v. Trump., et al. case was followed by
6201-578: The Asian American community gained significant advancements in their voting rights later, with the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. With this Act, the Asian American community was able to seek citizenship that was not on the basis of race but on a quota system that was dependent upon their country of emigration. Shortly after the McCarran-Walter Act , the Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It thus came
6318-740: The Civil Rights of newly freed African Americans. After the end of the Grant Administration, and the dismantling of Reconstruction under Rutherford B. Hayes , enforcement of the Act fell into disuse and few cases were brought under the statute for almost a hundred years. In December 2020, the NAACP along with the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and a group of Detroit voters sued U.S. President Donald Trump along with his presidential campaign and
6435-620: The Civil War, President Ulysses S. Grant conducted an aggressive—and ultimately successful—campaign against the Ku Klux Klan and its offshoots (such as the Knights of the White Camellia) from the 1860s to the 1870s. Grant deployed federal soldiers to arrest Klan members, enlisted U.S. attorneys to try their cases, supported Congressional legislation like the Ku Klux Klan Act , and organized federal judges to oversee Klan trials. Under
6552-408: The Constitution and enacted legislation. These reforms in the 19th and 20th centuries extended the franchise to non-whites, those who do not own property, women, and those 18–21 years old. Since the "right to vote" is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on
6669-790: The Court held that the 3-year statute of limitations for a fabrication of evidence civil lawsuit under section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act begins to run when the criminal case ends in the plaintiff's favor. In June 2020 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected qualified immunity for five Police officers in West Virginia who had kicked, beaten, tased, and finally killed Wayne A. Jones , by shooting him 22 times. On February 16, 2021,
6786-542: The Democratic Party". For instance, estimates were that 150 blacks were killed in North Carolina before the 1876 elections. Economic tactics such as eviction from rental housing or termination of employment were also used to suppress the black vote. The federal government withdrew its troops as a result of a national compromise related to the presidency, officially ending Reconstruction, and soon afterward
6903-550: The Klan Act during Reconstruction, federal troops, rather than state militias, were used to enforce the law, and Klansmen were prosecuted in federal court, where juries were sometimes predominantly black. Hundreds of Klan members were fined or imprisoned, and habeas corpus was suspended in nine counties in South Carolina. These efforts were so successful that the Klan was destroyed in South Carolina and decimated throughout
7020-404: The NAACP and law firm Cohen Milstein filed another lawsuit invoking the act on behalf of U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson . Other congresspersons were to join the litigation as plaintiffs. The February suit was filed against former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani , the Proud Boys , and the Oath Keepers . It alleges violations of the act pertaining to attempts to reject certification of
7137-477: The Protestant religion". With the growth in the number of Baptists in Virginia before the American Revolution , who challenged the established Church of England , the issues of religious freedom became important to rising leaders such as James Madison . As a young lawyer, he defended Baptist preachers who were not licensed by (and were opposed by) the established state Anglican Church . He carried developing ideas about religious freedom to be incorporated into
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#17327733859587254-569: The Revolution, including North Carolina. This fact was noted by Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis' dissent in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), as he emphasized that blacks had been considered citizens at the time the Constitution was ratified: Of this there can be no doubt. At the time of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, all free native-born inhabitants of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina, though descended from African slaves, were not only citizens of those States, but such of them as had
7371-557: The Steal, Oath Keepers and other persons who conspired to attack the Capitol under the same act and the D.C. Bias-Related Crimes Act. On February 2, 2022, Vindman sued several Trump allies, alleging that they intimidated and retaliated against him while he testified in Congress, and thereby violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The defendants in the lawsuit are Donald Trump Jr. , Rudy Giuliani, former White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino , and former White House deputy communications director Julia Hahn. In 2021, plaintiffs involved in
7488-425: The Supreme Court struck down the use of state-sanctioned all-white primaries by the Southern Democrats . States developed new restrictions on black voting; Alabama passed a law giving county registrars more authority as to which questions they asked applicants in comprehension or literacy tests. The NAACP continued with steady progress in legal challenges to disenfranchisement and segregation. In 1957, Congress passed
7605-498: The Supreme Court would strike down nearly every law passed through reconstruction that protected freedman from racially motivated violence from private actors while also taking a narrow view to the federal government's ability to enforce laws against state actors who perpetrated racially motivated violence. White Democrats regained power in state legislatures across the South by the late 1870s and declined to enforce laws against white supremacist paramilitary groups. African Americans were
7722-438: The Union south of the Potomac. He is not meddling with politics, for he found that the more he meddled with them the worse off he got. As to his "rights"—I will not discuss them now. We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. ... I would to God the last one of them was in Africa and that none of them had ever been brought to our shores. Prospective voters had to prove
7839-564: The United States Voting rights , specifically enfranchisement and disenfranchisement of different groups, have been a moral and political issue throughout United States history . Eligibility to vote in the United States is governed by the United States Constitution and by federal and state laws. Several constitutional amendments (the Fifteenth , Nineteenth , and Twenty-sixth specifically) require that voting rights of U.S. citizens cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age (18 and older);
7956-460: The United States Code have been enacted as positive law and other portions have not been so enacted. In case of a conflict between the text of the Statutes at Large and the text of a provision of the United States Code that has not been enacted as positive law, the text of the Statutes at Large takes precedence. Publication of the United States Statutes at Large began in 1845 by the private firm of Little, Brown and Company under authority of
8073-451: The United States Supreme Court in Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. (1970) two elements for recovery: (1) the plaintiff must prove that the defendant has deprived him of a right secured by the, "constitution and laws," of the US, and (2) the plaintiff must show that the defendant deprived him of this constitutional right 'under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory' (under color of law). Now
8190-450: The United States during this time. Things started to improve when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in the mid-twentieth century, and Chinese immigrants were once again able to seek citizenship and voting rights. In spite of these setbacks, it was not a complete ban for Asian Americans; simultaneously, a minority of Asian Americans were politically active during this era of the 1870 Naturalization Act and Chinese exclusion. However,
8307-406: The United States since the initial significant wave of Asian immigration to the country in the mid-nineteenth century. The escalation of voting rights issues for Asian immigrants had started with the citizenship status of Chinese Americans from 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act that was inspired by and built upon the Naturalization Act of 1870 . The latter act helped the judicial system decide
8424-662: The United States, steal federal property, and a number of other acts. Section 2 originally provided for both criminal and civil liability, but the criminal component was later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1883 case United States v. Harris , and ultimately repealed by Congress. The civil liability portion of Section 2 survived with amendments later codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1985, known as "Section 1985". Section 1985 authorizes lawsuits against people who conspire to commit certain prohibited acts, such as interfering with government, obstructing justice, or depriving
8541-454: The ability of freedmen to vote. The white resistance to black suffrage after the war regularly erupted into violence as white groups tried to protect their power. Particularly in the South , in the aftermath of the Civil War whites made efforts to suppress freedmen 's voting. In the 1860s, secret vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) used violence and intimidation to keep freedmen in
8658-484: The ability of minority groups to elect candidates of their choice. Such challenges have particularly occurred at the county and municipal level, including for school boards, where exclusion of minority groups and candidates at such levels has been persistent in some areas of the country. This reduces the ability of women and minorities to participate in the political system and gain entry-level experience. Voting rights for Asian Americans have been continuously battled for in
8775-522: The ability to read and write the English language to white voter registrars, who in practice applied subjective requirements. Blacks were often denied the right to vote on this basis. Even well-educated blacks were often told they had "failed" such a test, if in fact, it had been administered. On the other hand, illiterate whites were sometimes allowed to vote through a " grandfather clause ," which waived literacy requirements if one's grandfather had been
8892-485: The affiliated political party to choose a replacement to hold office until the next scheduled election. Such an appointment is often affirmed by the governor. The Constitution, in Article VI , clause (paragraph) 3, does state that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States". From 1778 to 1871, the government tried to resolve its relationship with
9009-576: The aforementioned qualifications, the "right to vote" is perhaps better understood, in layman's terms, as only prohibiting certain forms of legal discrimination in establishing qualifications for suffrage. States may deny the "right to vote" for other reasons. For example, many states require eligible citizens to register to vote a set number of days prior to the election in order to vote. More controversial restrictions include those laws that prohibit convicted felons from voting , even those who have served their sentences. In addition, voter ID laws vary between
9126-524: The cause. The Supreme Court's upholding of Mississippi's new constitution , in Williams v. Mississippi (1898), encouraged other states to follow the Mississippi plan of disfranchisement. African Americans brought other legal challenges, as in Giles v. Harris (1903) and Giles v. Teasley (1904), but the Supreme Court upheld Alabama constitutional provisions. In 1915, Oklahoma was the last state to append
9243-742: The century voter rolls dropped markedly across the South. Most blacks and many poor whites were excluded from the political system for decades. Unable to vote, they were also excluded from juries or running for any office. In Alabama, for example, its 1901 constitution restricted the franchise for poor whites as well as blacks. It contained requirements for payment of cumulative poll taxes , completion of literacy tests , and increased residency at state, county and precinct levels, effectively disenfranchising tens of thousands of poor whites as well as most blacks. Historian J. Morgan Kousser found, "They disfranchised these whites as willingly as they deprived blacks of
9360-469: The constitution as originally written did not establish any such rights during 1787–1870, except that if a state permitted a person to vote for the "most numerous branch" of its state legislature, it was required to permit that person to vote in elections for members of the United States House of Representatives . In the absence of a specific federal law or constitutional provision, each state
9477-427: The court ruled that "The first clause of 1985(3) does not provide a federal cause of action against persons obstructing access to abortion clinics." It was also used in the 1969 case of Tinker v. Des Moines . By the time Beth Tinker was in school, the law had expanded to make school boards liable if they stood in the way of people's federally protected rights. Today, the 1871 Civil Rights Act can be invoked whenever
9594-481: The election results during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count , as well as alleging conspiracy to incite violence leading to the 2021 United States Capitol attack . Following lawsuits filed by Thompson and Swalwell, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed its complaint on behalf of seven officers working with United States Capitol Police accusing Trump, Roger Stone , Proud Boys, Stop
9711-463: The equal protection of law. The Act authorized the President to deploy federal troops to counter the Klan and to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to make arrests without charge. The act was passed by the 42nd United States Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on April 20, 1871. The act was the last of three Enforcement Acts passed by Congress from 1870 to 1871 during
9828-451: The equal protection of the laws". In a reference to the Klan's practice of wearing face-covering hoods, Section 1985(3) prohibits two or more people from traveling in disguise or otherwise conspiring to deprive a person or class of people of equal protection of the law or other legal rights. In addition, Section 1985(3) contains the "support-or-advocacy clauses", which cover conspiracies to harm citizens because of their support or advocacy for
9945-417: The federal Constitution and federal statutes, such as the prohibition of public sector employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. Targeted directly at the Klan and containing some two dozen clauses, Section 2 was longer than Section 1 and received more attention from Congress during debates. It prohibited conspiracies to overthrow the federal government, levy war against
10062-616: The first case in which the NAACP filed a brief, the Supreme Court struck down the grandfather clause in Oklahoma and Maryland . Other states in which it was used had to retract their legislation as well. The challenge was successful. But, nearly as rapidly as the Supreme Court determined a specific provision was unconstitutional, state legislatures developed new statutes to continue disenfranchisement. For instance, in Smith v. Allwright (1944),
10179-679: The following declaration, to wit: I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost , one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. ". This was repealed by Article I, Section II. of the 1792 Constitution : "No religious test shall be required as
10296-485: The form of monetary damages—available to those whose constitutional rights and laws had been violated by a person acting under State authority . Normally, constitutional rights and laws violations are remedied by specific performance including injunctions by the courts. Thus, if a person's right to due process was violated by a prison guard who was said to be acting under the authority of the state, under § 1983, that person could bring suit for monetary damages against
10413-471: The free black males of the right to vote in the same period. Four of the fifteen post-Civil War constitutional amendments were ratified to extend voting rights to different groups of citizens. These extensions state that voting rights cannot be denied or abridged based on the following: Following the Reconstruction era until the culmination of the civil rights movement , Jim Crow laws such as literacy tests , poll taxes , and religious tests were some of
10530-621: The fundamentals of religion ". Connecticut in mid-century also restricted suffrage with a specified property qualification and a religious test, and in Pennsylvania , the Province of Carolina , and the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations voting rights were restricted to Christians only . Under the Duke's Laws in colonial New York , suffrage did not require a religious test but
10647-531: The land would be "reserved" exclusively for the tribe's use. Throughout the 1800s, many native tribes gradually lost claim to the lands they had inhabited for centuries through the federal government's Indian Removal policy to relocate tribes from the Southeast and Northwest to west of the Mississippi River . European-American settlers continued to encroach on western lands. Only in 1879, in
10764-907: The late 19th century, a Populist-Republican coalition in several states gained governorships and some congressional seats in 1894. To prevent such a coalition from forming again and reduce election violence, the Democratic Party, dominant in all southern state legislatures, took action to disfranchise most blacks and many poor whites outright. From 1890 to 1908, ten of the eleven former Confederate states completed political suppression and exclusion of these groups by ratifying new constitutions or amendments which incorporated provisions to make voter registration more difficult. These included such requirements as payment of poll taxes , complicated record keeping, complicated timing of registration and length of residency in relation to elections, with related record-keeping requirements; felony disenfranchisement focusing on crimes thought to be committed by African Americans, and
10881-514: The national boundaries of the United States, those on Indian reservations were considered citizens of their own tribes, rather than of the United States. They were denied the right to vote because they were not considered citizens by law and were thus ineligible. Many Native Americans were told they would become citizens if they gave up their tribal affiliations in 1887 under the Dawes Act , which allocated communal lands to individual households and
10998-486: The negroes until 1895. Then we had a constitutional convention convened which took the matter up calmly, deliberately, and avowedly with the purpose of disfranchising as many of them as we could under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. We adopted the educational qualification as the only means left to us, and the negro is as contented and as prosperous and as well protected in South Carolina to-day as in any State of
11115-577: The other necessary qualifications possessed the franchise of electors, on equal terms with other citizens. When the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, it granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction. In 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment prohibited the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". The major effect of these amendments
11232-433: The polls, and condoning of physical violence against those who voted. Since the late 20th century, they have been protected under provisions of the Voting Rights Act as a racial minority, and in some areas, language minority, gaining election materials in their native languages. The Alaskan Territory did not consider Alaska Natives to be citizens of the United States and so they could not vote. An exception to this rule
11349-579: The president the power to imprison people without a trial (known as suspending the writ of habeas corpus ) and to use the federal military on domestic soil to enforce constitutional rights, among other measures. In January 1871, Republican Senator John Scott of Pennsylvania convened a congressional committee to hear testimony from witnesses of Klan atrocities . In February, Republican Congressman Benjamin Franklin Butler of Massachusetts introduced his anti-Klan bill, intended to enforce both
11466-629: The prison guard. Without § 1983, that person would have to seek an injunction by the courts for the due process violation. The problem with such an action by the court is that injunctions, which instruct a party on penalty of contempt to perform or refrain from performing some action, cannot apply to past harm, only future harm. So, essentially the person would have an actionable cause—the constitutional violation—with no adequate remedy. Most § 1983 claims are brought against prison officials by prisoners, but prisoner claims are usually dismissed as being without merit. Claims can be brought by anyone stating
11583-687: The processes and overcome local resistance. In addition, it was not until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966) that all state poll taxes (for state elections) were officially declared unconstitutional as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This removed a burden on the poor. Legal challenges have continued under the Voting Rights Act , primarily in areas of redistricting and election systems, for instance, challenging at-large election systems that effectively reduce
11700-698: The property requirement) and in some local jurisdictions in other northern states. Free Blacks could also vote in these jurisdictions , provided they could meet the property requirement. In New Jersey particularly, these property requirements were purposely set quite low. Beginning around 1790, individual states began to eschew property ownership as a qualification for enfranchisement in favor of sex and race, with most states disenfranchising women and non-white men. By 1856, white men were allowed to vote in all states regardless of property ownership, although requirements for paying tax remained in five states. Several states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey , stripped
11817-507: The rest of the former Confederacy, where it had already been in decline for several years. The Klan was not to exist again until its renewal in 1915. During its brief existence, however, the "first era" Klan did achieve many of its goals in the South, such as denying voting rights to Southern blacks. In its early history, under the Grant Administration, this act was used, along with the Force Act, to bring to justice those who were violating
11934-461: The right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized." Justice Hugo Black shared the same sentiment by stating in Wesberry v. Sanders , 376 U.S. 1, 17 (1964): "No right is more precious in a free country than that of having
12051-535: The same as if this act had not been passed, except so far as the provisions of this act may go to sustain and validate such proceedings". Although some provisions were ruled unconstitutional in 1883, the 1870 Force Act and the 1871 Civil Rights Act have been invoked in later civil rights conflicts, including the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner ; the 1965 murder of Viola Liuzzo ; and in Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic , 506 U.S. 263 (1993), in which
12168-423: The state and local laws used in various parts of the United States to deny immigrants (including legal ones and newly naturalized citizens), non-white citizens, Native Americans, and any other locally "undesirable" groups from exercising voting rights granted under the Constitution. Because of such state and local discriminatory practices, over time, the federal role in elections has increased, through amendments to
12285-452: The states, with some states strictly requiring a photo ID for one to vote while other states may not require any ID at all. Another example, seen in Bush v. Gore , are disputes as to what rules should apply in vote counting or election recounts . A state may choose to fill an office by means other than an election. For example, upon death or resignation of a legislator, the state may allow
12402-612: The statute stands as one of the most powerful authorities with which state and federal courts may protect those whose rights are deprived. Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983) provides a way individuals can sue to redress when their federally protected rights are violated, like the First Amendment rights and the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . Section 1979 can be used to redress violated rights based on
12519-483: The three plaintiffs and awarded $ 10,000 in compensatory damages to the bus driver. The Austin American Statesman noted that "[t]he verdict marks the first time in the modern era that a jury has found a defendant liable under the support-or-advocacy clauses of the 1871 Klan Act...." Section 1 of the Act, which has since been amended and codified as section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983) and
12636-579: The various native tribes by negotiating treaties. These treaties formed agreements between two sovereign nations, stating that Native American people were citizens of their tribe, living within the boundaries of the United States. The treaties were negotiated by the executive branch and ratified by the U.S. Senate. It said that native tribes would give up their rights to hunt and live on huge parcels of land that they had inhabited in exchange for trade goods, yearly cash annuity payments, and assurances that no further demands would be made on them. Most often, part of
12753-575: The vote." By 1941, more whites than blacks in total had been disenfranchised. Although African Americans quickly began legal challenges to such provisions in the 19th century, it was years before any were successful before the U.S. Supreme Court . Booker T. Washington , better known for his public stance of trying to work within societal constraints of the period at Tuskegee University , secretly helped fund and arrange representation for numerous legal challenges to disfranchisement. He called upon wealthy Northern allies and philanthropists to raise funds for
12870-488: Was eligible to vote, allowing each state to determine who was eligible. In the early history of the U.S., some states allowed only white male adult property owners to vote, while others either did not specify race, or specifically protected the rights of men of any race to vote. Women were largely prohibited from voting, as were men without property. Women could vote in New Jersey until 1807 (provided they could meet
12987-610: Was enacted July 30, 1947 and directed the Secretary of State to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large . Pub. L. 81–821 , 64 Stat. 980, was enacted September 23, 1950 and directed the Administrator of General Services to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large . Since 1985 the Statutes at Large have been prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of
13104-567: Was inadequate to combat widespread and persistent discrimination in voting". Activism by African Americans helped secure an expanded and protected franchise that has benefited all Americans, including racial and language minorities. The bill provided for federal oversight, if necessary, to ensure just voter registration and election procedures. The rate of African-American registration and voting in Southern states climbed dramatically and quickly, but it has taken years of federal oversight to work out
13221-483: Was intended to aid in the assimilation of Native Americans into majority culture . This still did not guarantee their right to vote. In 1924, the remaining Native Americans, estimated at one-third, became United States citizens through the Indian Citizenship Act . Many western states, however, continued to restrict Native American ability to vote through property requirements, economic pressures, hiding
13338-579: Was invoked in the 2010 Robbins v. Lower Merion School District case, where plaintiffs charged two suburban Philadelphia high schools secretly spied on students by surreptitiously and remotely activating webcams embedded in school-issued laptops the students were using at home, violating their right to privacy. The schools admitted to snapping over 66,000 webshots and screenshots secretly, including webcam shots of students in their bedrooms. The 2019 Supreme Court case Nieves v. Bartlett ruled that in general when probable cause for an arrest exists it overrides
13455-660: Was restricted to landholders . In Virginia , all white freemen were allowed to vote until suffrage was restricted temporarily to householders from 1655 to 1656, to freeholders from 1670 to 1676, and following the death of Nathaniel Bacon in 1676, to freeholders permanently. Quakers were not permitted to vote in Plymouth Colony or in the Massachusetts Bay Colony , and along with Baptists , were not permitted to vote in several other colonies as well, and Catholics were disenfranchised following
13572-570: Was that indigenous women were considered citizens if they were married to white men. In 1915, the Territorial Legislature passed a law that allowed Alaska Natives the right to vote if they gave up their "tribal customs and traditions." William Paul ( Tlingit ) fought for the right of Alaska Natives to vote during the 1920s. Others, like Tillie Paul (Tlingit) and Charlie Jones (Tlingit), were arrested for voting because they were still not considered citizens. Later, Paul would win
13689-428: Was to enfranchise African American men, the overwhelming majority of whom were freedmen in the South. After the war, some Southern states passed " Black Codes ", state laws to restrict the new freedoms of African Americans. They attempted to control their movement, assembly, working conditions and other civil rights. Some states also prohibited them from voting. The Fifteenth Amendment, one of three ratified after
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