(Picture above: A political cartoon illustrating a situation where equals protection and justice of law is not taking place. Images such as these help shine a light to American society showing that sometimes our minds slip away from our Country’s laws.)
The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution grants the people of America “equal protection of the laws.” This Amendment helped correct the problem in the Emancipation Proclamation that led former slaves who were denied citizenship legal status. This legal status was originally denied in the Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, in 1857. The equal protection of laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment was very important for the development of civil rights because it helped make the Three-Fifths Compromise obsolete, it granted citizenship to about four million former slaves, and it also denied the holding of political office to leaders who supported secession. In modern times, equal protection of laws has helped women obtain the right to vote and it has helped minorities gain the right to vote. Unfortunately the federal government only began to recognize the amendment during the Reconstruction period of the U.S. This amendment has been cited in more litigation than any other amendment. This means that it has been used in legal action and in court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Rose v. Wade. In, total, the United states would be a completely different society without the implementation of the 14th Amendment.
"14th Amendment." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016. <https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv>.
No comments:
Post a Comment