Soicial Issues and Warren Court Decisions Essay

Soicial Issues and Warren Court Decisions - Essay Example In addition, immigrants have long faced discrimination in areas such as housing, employment opportunities and education. Moreover, civil rights accords do not incorporate racial minorities such as the disabled, women and homosexuals. Till 1860s, numerous states prevented or restricted women from having their own property. The right of a woman to vote was not protected constitutionally until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Anti-gender discrimination campaign commenced with the enactment of 1964 Civil Rights Act came into force, effectively illegalizing any forms of gender based discrimination. As a result, individuals could not be discriminated based on national origin, religion, age and race. Various supreme courts have ruled on the above two issues. A case in point is the Reed v. Reed Supreme Court Drama involving Sally Reed as the appellant and Cecil Reed as the appellee. According to this case, the appellant claimed that the Idaho law favored the appointment for t he mere reason of being male over a woman for purposes of being an administrator of an estate whose owner had died. The decision was made in favor of Sally Reed, the Appellant after finding out that the probate law of Idaho discriminated against women. This ruling was the first in favor of women’s right following the Fourteenth Amendment. ... s states from enacting any law which shall abridge (lessen) the constitutional rights and privileges of citizens of the United States nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.† The Equal Protection Clause guarantees that individuals in groups of persons or persons in situations that are similar should be equally treated. Ruth Bader Ginsburg the case lawyer and the subsequent judge of the Supreme Court labeled the Reeds case as â€Å"the turning point case.† The state law for the first time was held invalid because it allowed discrimination against women. The U.S Supreme Court in 1857 in the Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19How.)393,15L. ED. 691, concluded that the constitution did not find its application to the African Americans as they were not considered to be citizens during the drafting of the constitution. New laws were mandatory after the civil war for purposes of extending former slaves civil liberties. How the Court Decisi ons Affected the Society after the Ruling Reed v Reed was the initial U.S Supreme Court ruling that concluded that laws subjective to gender discrimination were violating the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Decades after the case ruling, the court utilized the precedence set in the ruling to make rulings eliminating discriminatory laws against women. On the other hand, the ruling also benefitted men as it prevented courts from basing their views on gender generalizations. The constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment was enacted for purposes of making the involuntary servitude and slavery unlawful acts. Moreover, the power to enact laws was handed to the Congress which necessitated the new amendments enforcement. Both the cases had a positive impact in the society. For instance, the women