Example research essay topic: Equal Protection Clause Florida Supreme Court - 1,741 words

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Equality under the Law In the Constitution of the United States (the main law of the state) there are some important words such as, All people are equal in the eyes of God. What does it mean? It means that all people, regardless of race and color have the same rights, for example, the right to vote and to be elected in any office. The Constitution has some Amendments. Among them are the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment that guarantee equality of all people. For example, in the Fourteenth Amendment the equal protection clause prohibits discriminatory voting qualifications and guarantees individuals that their ballots cannot be devalued by later arbitrary and disparate treatment.

All the courts of the USA use the Constitution and its Amendments (the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth) in resolving the cases connected with equality protection. Lets take for example two cases Bush v. Gore and United States v. Louisiana. The case Bush v.

Gore was heard in the US Supreme Court in December 11, 2000. But before it was the Presidential election. It was held in November 7, 2000. According to the Electoral College system each state carries on its own election for President. The winner of each states election gets a number of electoral votes. The winner of a majority of the Electoral College becomes the President of the USA.

In 2000 270 electoral votes were needed for the victory. In November 8, 2000 it was reported by the Florida Division of Elections. That Bush had a margin of victory of 1, 784 votes. After the automatic machine recount the margin of victory was less then 0. 5 % of the votes cast.

In November 10 the recount was finished in all but one county. Floridas election laws permit a candidate to request a county to conduct a manual recount. So Al Gore, the Vice-President, requested manual recounts in four Florida counties: Volusia, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade. The four counties agreed to do it.

But under Florida law all counties have to certify the election returns to The Florida Secretary of State within seven days of the election. The statutory deadline was November 14. On that day the Florida Circuit Court ruled that 7 -day deadline was mandatory, but the counties could amend their returns at a later day. And secretary after considering all attendant facts and circumstances could include any late amended returns in the statewide certifications. In November 14, at 5 p. m. , deadline, Floridas Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced that she received the certified returns from all 67 counties, except Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties: they were still conducting manual recounts.

Harris required any counting, seeking a late filling, to submit to her, by 2 p. m. the following day, a written statement of the facts and circumstances justifying the late filling. Four counties had fulfilled her requirement and Harris decided that none justified an extension of the filling deadline. So she announced that she would certify the results of the presidential election on Saturday, November 18, 2000. Gore and Palm Beach filed suit to make Harris include the amended returns an appealed the Florida Supreme Court.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered Harris to accept the results of any manual recounts and certify them before November 26, at 5 p. m... In November 22, Bush appealed the United States Supreme Court. Basing on the Equal Protection clause the seven justices found that a ballot recount being conducted in certain counties in the state of Florida. Was to be stopped because of the lack of a consistent standard. Two Justices disagreed.

The seven justices thought that even if the recount was fair in theory, it was unfair in practice. The record suggested the different standards were applied from ballot to ballot, precinct to precinct, and county to county. And because of those and other procedural difficulties the court decided that no constitutional recount could be done in the time remaining. The US Supreme Court also held that the recount scheme was unconstitutional.

The Florida Supreme Courts decision made new election law, but only the state legislature may do it. The decision stopped the state wide recount. It permitted Florida Secretary of State Katharine Harris to certify George W. Bush as the winner of Floridas electoral votes.

Floridas 25 electoral votes gave Bush a majority of the Electoral College with 272 votes. It allowed him to win the Presidency. The case United States v. Louisiana was heard by the Court in 1963. The United States used the federal courts to prevent the State of Louisiana from violating federally protected right.

In the case United States v. Louisiana the United States itself brought suit challenging the constitutionality of the laws of Louisiana. Under the constitution of Louisiana registration before voting in any election is held in each parish by a registrar of voters. The Constitution of Louisiana was adopted in 1970. It provides that a voter shall be a person of good character and reputation. A voter shall be attached to the principals of the Constitution of the US and of the State of Louisiana.

He will be able to read and give a reasonable interpretation of any close in the Constitutions. He 4 must understand the duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form of government when a Louisiana citizen seeks to register the Parish Registrar of voters may ask the applicant to interpret a state of federal constitutional provision. In the most famous historical essay written on this subject by the court Judge Wisdom, one of the third judges who heard the case, wrote that the interpretation requirements had their long roots, logically connected series of socio-political events. They took in Louisiana's historic policy to maintain white supremacy in the state and the local government by denying Negroes the right to vote. From 1724 to 1864 Negroes did not have the right to vote. Only the Constitutional Convention of 1864 was the first to consider Negro suffrage.

But in 1865 the Democrats in Louisiana declared the Constitution of 1864 a fraud and adopted resolutions that the Government of Louisiana was made for the exclusive benefit of the white race. And only the 1868 Constitution gave Negroes the right to vote and to hold office. In 1879, with the State firmly in the control of the white League, another Constitution was adopted. The most of the provisions in the 1868 Constitution favorable to Negroes were eliminated.

In 1921, the Committee of Suffrage and Elections met in secrecy and agreed to the interpretation test. Judge Wisdom was sure that the test was a tool of discrimination. By 1962 it was decided to enforce the interpretation test. It was accompanied by purge of Negro voters or periodic registration, so that Negro voters had to register. In most parishes where there was a purge the Negroes were required to re-register. The Louisiana Constitution contains 443 sections including 56 sections of the United States Constitution.

It is the longest and most detailed of all state constitutions. The printed copy, published by the state, contains 600 pages. An applicant had to interpret any constitutional section to satisfy the Parish Registrar of Votes with his explanation. In many parishes the registrar was not easily satisfied with constitutional interpretations from Negro applicants. White applicants were more often given easy sections, many of which could be answered by short, stock phrases such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and so on. Registrars often helped whites with answers.

On the other hand application forms answers for Negroes were complicated highly qualified by literacy standards. Judge Wisdom one of the third judges of the court who heard the case underlined that a literacy test bore a reasonable relation to a governmental objective. He also held since Louisiana had the highest literacy rate in the nation the state had more reason to use a literacy test to improve the level of the electorate. He said that the understanding clause, which was an interpretation test of the Constitution, did not have to be confused with literacy test. Under Louisiana's law an applicant had to read to the registrar the Preamble of the US Constitution or write it only in his native language.

If he could not speak read or write English, he had to use an interpreter. It permitted white illiterates. So it was made in such way to reject Negroes in voting although they had given reasonable interpretation. It was evident that the test was given to disfranchise Negroes. The United States Underlined that the understanding an interpretation requirement violated the Civil Rights and the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the US. Under article 1 B 2 of the Constitution states are free to establish voting qualifications only if the qualifications do not violet the United States Constitution.

And the Fifteenth Amendment requires that courts inquire into legislative purpose and strike down a law that is a discriminatory device to deprive Negroes of their vote. The Fifteenth Amendment clearly shows that the right of voting is considered to be of supreme importance to the national government and is not intended to be left within the exclusive control of the states. In August 3, 1962 the state board of registration adopted a voter qualification test because the interpretation test was recognized unconstitutional. According to the new test an applicant had to draw one of ten cards.

Each card had six multiple choice questions. Four of which the applicant had to answer correctly. They were about forty three different questions in various combinations. This test was more difficult then the past. It required understanding of the theory of the American system of government and knowledge of specific constitutional provisions. The new test discriminated against Negroes of voting age.

The decision of the court was to adopt Civil Rights measures for the protection of the electoral process against race discrimination because the protection of the right to vote without regard to race and the honesty of the electoral process is very important for national interest. As we see all the courts of the United States used the Constitution and its Amendments (the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth) in resolving the cases connected with a quality protection. They used the same meaning of a quality under the law. Bibliography: Oyez: Bush v. Gore. The Oyez Project.

Ed. Jerry Goldman. 531 U. S. 98 (2000), 08 May 2006. web web

Research essay sample on Equal Protection Clause Florida Supreme Court