Explain how this decision legally interpreted the Constitution prior to the civil rights movement.
a The decision used strict constructionism by explaining the federal power to legislate education within state borders.
b The decision used liberal constructionism by citing the precedent of separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
c The decision used strict constructionism by refraining from attempting to decipher the intent behind the Fourteenth Amendment.
d The decision used liberal constructionism by interpreting the amendment’s author’s intent to explain the Fourteenth Amendment.
The correct answer is c. The decision used strict constructionism by refraining from attempting to decipher the intent behind the Fourteenth Amendment.
The decision being referred to here is Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld racial segregation in public facilities, including education. The Court's reasoning in this decision was largely based on an interpretation of the Constitution using strict constructionism. They did not examine the intent behind the Fourteenth Amendment, which was intended to grant equal protection under the law to all citizens, regardless of race.
Instead, the Court narrowly interpreted the amendment and held that separate educational facilities for different races were constitutional as long as they were "separate but equal." This interpretation allowed racial segregation to persist for several decades before being challenged and ultimately overturned by the civil rights movement and subsequent Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
The correct answer is d) The decision used liberal constructionism by interpreting the amendment’s author's intent to explain the Fourteenth Amendment.
To understand how this decision legally interpreted the Constitution prior to the civil rights movement, we need to analyze the options.
a) The decision used strict constructionism by explaining the federal power to legislate education within state borders.
With this option, strict constructionism is employed to explain that the federal government has the authority to pass laws regarding education within the states. This interpretation suggests that the decision viewed the federal government's power as limited to those areas explicitly granted to it by the Constitution.
b) The decision used liberal constructionism by citing the precedent that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
In this option, liberal constructionism is employed, citing the precedent that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This interpretation suggests that the decision considered the Constitution as a living document and looked beyond its literal interpretation to address the issue of inequality in education.
c) The decision used strict constructionism by refraining from attempting to decipher the intent behind the Fourteenth Amendment.
This option suggests that strict constructionism was used, as the decision did not attempt to interpret the intent behind the Fourteenth Amendment. Instead, it may have focused on the plain text of the amendment rather than delving into the framers' intentions.
d) The decision used liberal constructionism by interpreting the amendment’s author’s intent to explain the Fourteenth Amendment.
Finally, this option suggests that liberal constructionism was employed, as the decision interpreted the intentions of the amendment’s authors to explain the Fourteenth Amendment. It implies that the decision went beyond the plain text of the amendment and considered the framers' intentions in its interpretation.
Considering the historical context of the civil rights movement, it is likely that the correct option is b) The decision used liberal constructionism by citing the precedent that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This aligns with the Supreme Court's ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), wherein the Court declared that the doctrine of "separate but equal" in education was unconstitutional as it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
To further understand the decision and how it legally interpreted the Constitution, it would be essential to refer to the specific case being discussed.