| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Civil Rights Act (1964) | Was the most comprehensive civil rights law Congress had ever enacted. It gave the federal government broad power to prevent racial discrimination in a number of areas. The law made segregation illegal in most places of public accommodation and it gave citizens of all races and nationalities equal access to such facilities as restaurants, parks, libraries, and theaters. The law gave the attorney general more power to bring lawsuits to force school desegregation and it required private employers to end discrimination in the workplace. It also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a permanent agency in the federal government. This commission monitors the ban on job discrimination by race, religion, gender, and national origin. |
| Clean Air Act (1970) | It describes one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of smog and air pollution in general. The legislation forced the country to enforce clean air standards to improve health and showed that American was moving towards certain environmentalist measures. |
| Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) | Federal legislation that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, requires organizations to remove physical barriers that prevent access to areas, and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to compensate for an individual's disability. |
| National Voter Registration Act (1993) | this act passed in 1993 and frequently called the "Motor Vehicle Act" is a piece of legislation that includes a provision that makes it possible to register to vote when applying for or renewing your drivers license. |
| Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (1995) | To curb the practice of imposing unfunded Federal mandates on States and local governments; to strengthen the partnership between the Federal Government and State, local and tribal governments; to end the imposition, in the absence of full consideration by Congress, of Federal mandates on State, local, and tribal governments without adequate funding, in a manner that may displace other essential governmental priorities; and to ensure that the Federal Government pays the costs incurred by those governments in complying with certain requirements under Federal statutes and regulations, and for other purposes. |
| Welfare Reform Act (1996) | 1996 law that established the Temporary Assistance Act for Needy Families program in place of Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and tightened Medicaid eligibility requirements |
| No Child Left Behind (2002) | Holds states, schools, and school districts more accountable for their standardized tests scores. The wanted outcome was better tests scores all around and overall a smarter and better population of young people that would positively contribute to a growing America. |
| National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937) | declared that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (commonly known as the Wagner Act) was constitutional. Spelled the end to the Court's striking down of New Deal economic legislation, and greatly increased Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. Per Justice Hughes: "Although activities may be intrastate in character when separately considered, if they have such a close and substantial relation to interstate commerce that their control is essential or appropriate to protect that commerce from burdens and obstructions, Congress cannot be denied the power to exercise that control." |
| Wickard v. Filburn (1942) | decision interpreting the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which permits the United States Congress to "regulate Commerce...among the several States." The goal of the legislation was to limit the total production of wheat, so that the supply and demand of wheat would be stabilized, thereby ending the cycle of broad price swings that were deemed to be destructive of the farm economy. Roscoe Filburn was a farmer who produced wheat in excess of the amount permitted. Filburn however, argued that because the excess wheat was produced for his private consumption on his own farm, it never entered commerce at all, much less interstate commerce, and therefore was not a proper subject of federal regulation under the Commerce Clause. In Filburn the Court unanimously reasoned that the power to regulate the price at which commerce occurs was inherent in the power to regulate commerce. |
| Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964) | landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the U.S. Congress could use its Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination. Congress did not unconstitutionally exceed its powers under the Commerce Clause by enacting Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations. United States countered that the restrictions in adequate accommodation for black Americans severely interfered with interstate travel, and that Congress, under the United States Constitution's Commerce clause, was certainly within its power to address such matters. Moreover, they argued, the Fifth Amendment does not forbid reasonable regulation of interstate commerce and such incidental damage did not constitute the "taking" of property without just compensation or due process of law. Third, they argued that the Thirteenth Amendment applied primarily to slavery and the removal of widespread disabilities associated with it. |
| South Dakota v. Dole (1987) | case in which the United States Supreme Court considered federalism and the power of the United States Congress under the Taxing and Spending Clause. United States Congress passed legislation, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, withholding 5% of Federal-Aid Highway Act funds from states that did not adopt a minimum legal age of 21 for the purchase and possession of alcohol. South Dakota, a state that had allowed 19-year-olds to purchase beer containing up to 3.2% alcohol, sued to challenge the law, naming Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole as the defendant because her office was responsible for enforcing the legislation. Holding: Congress may attach reasonable conditions to funds disbursed to the states. |
| United States v. Lopez (1995) | First United States Supreme Court case since the Great Depression to set limits to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Possession of a gun near school is not an economic activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. A law prohibiting guns near schools is a criminal statute that does not relate to commerce or any sort of economic activity. |
| Gonzales v. Raich (2005) | case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled on June 6, 2005 that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which allows the United States Congress "To regulate Commerce... among the several States," Congress may ban the use of cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes. California was one of eight states that allowed medicinal use of marijuana. California's Compassionate Use Act allows limited use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Angel Raich's physician said that without marijuana, Raich would be in excruciating pain and could die. The United States Federal law, via the Controlled Substances Act, does not recognize the medical use of marijuana. Agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) were assigned to break up California's medical marijuana co-ops and seize their assets. This activity was the result of the belief that federal law preempted that of California. The government argued that if a single exception was made to the Controlled Substances Act, it would become unenforceable in practice. The government also contended that consuming one's locally grown marijuana for medical purposes affects the interstate market of marijuana, and hence that the federal government may regulate—and prohibit—such consumption. |
| Gonzales v. Oregon (2006) | United States Supreme Court case which ruled that the United States Attorney General could not enforce the Controlled Substances Act against physicians prescribing drugs for the assisted suicide of the terminally ill as permitted by an Oregon law. It was the first major case heard under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. |
| Printz v. United States (1997) | United States Supreme Court ruling that established the unconstitutionality of certain interim provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Under the interim provisions, a firearms dealer who proposes to transfer a handgun must receive from the transferee a statement (the Brady Form), containing the name, address and date of the proposed transferee along with a sworn statement that the transferee is not among any of the classes of prohibited purchasers, verify the identity of the transferee by examining an identification document, and provide the "chief law enforcement officer" (CLEO) of the transferee's residence with notice of the contents (and a copy) of the Brady Form. When a CLEO receives the required notice of a proposed transfer, they must "make a reasonable effort to ascertain within 5 business days whether receipt or possession would be in violation of the law, including research in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are available and in a national system designated by the Attorney General." The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act's interim provision commanding the "chief law enforcement officer" (CLEO) of each local jurisdiction to conduct background checks, §922(s)(2), is unconstitutional. |
| United States v. Morrison (2000) | United States Supreme Court decision which held that parts of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 were unconstitutional because they exceeded congressional power under the Commerce Clause and under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Violence Against Women Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. § 13981, is unconstitutional as exceeding congressional power under the Commerce Clause and under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. |
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