In the preview below I mentioned that this week's 2305 classes will be looking at changes in the original constitutional structure that were driven by a number of constitutional amendments. For convenience sake, these are the ones at issue:
- 14th
- 15th
- 19th
- 23rd
- 24th
- 26th
The 23rd Amendment might not apply here - but I added it anyway because it grants voting rights to the citizens of Washington DC, but the rest clearly place limits on state powers. They can no longer make and enforce laws which treat people unequally, and cannot deny the right to vote (which they are still given discretion over) on a variety of criteria laid out in each amendment.
The first two provide the basis for much of the civil rights and election law that has been passed since the end of the Civil War. As we will see in class though - passing a law is one thing - enforcing it is another.
