Famous Court Cases pertaining to the Fifteenth Amendment

Case #1
Guinn v. United States

Conflict: When Oklahoma joined the United States, its legislative agreed to let men of all races vote, as the 15th amendment stated. However the Oklahoma state began to pass laws pertaining to the process of voting such as literacy tests. These tests were mandatory and could only be bypassed if the grandfather of the voter could be validated as a foreigner or a military soldier before 1866. Of course this rule oppressed the African-American population because most of their families were in the country for generations and they had no soldiers in their families.

Output: The U.S Supreme Court declared the grandfather clauses in the Maryland and Oklahoma constitutions to be a violation of the Fifteenth Amendment and therefore null and void. This also affected similar laws in the constitutions of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Case #2

Georgia v. Ashcroft

Conflict: Following the 2000 Census, the Democratic-controlled Georgia legislature passed a redistricting plan that was backed by many black leaders because it would have spread black voters and influence across several districts rather than concentrating them in a select few. Georgia's Republican governor objected to the plan because he said it violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which discourages the dilution of minority voting strength. 

Output: The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the legislature's plan.

Current Controversies pertaining to the 15th amendment

After reading the previous Fifteenth amendment post, you probably are looking at the title of this post and are utterly confused. Why in the world would there be controversies pertaining to this amendment? It is a very basic right! However, the controversies still exist. It may not be imposed directly upon the Fifteenth amendment, but upon a descendant document of the fifteenth called the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Read the news story here:
www.foxnews.com/story/2005/10/17/congress-to-consider-extending-voting-rights-act/

From reading this current event article, one can see the obvious opposition to the 15th amendment coming back into play. Removing parts of the voting rights act is simply a way to show that voting can be limited in a fashion that is close to the point of breaking the basic ideals of the 15th and the 19th Amendments.

This article was from 2005, when the decision was to extend certain sections of the Voting Rights Act till 2007. It was not until 2013 that the Supreme Court revisited this issue and took actions.

This video shows their actions and how they were received:



As you can see by the words of the civil rights activists, this decision was not received with warmth and compassion. It seems that this decision is just bringing unnecessary fear upon the voting population. To have a part of a right that protects you struck down because it was 'out-dated' but not replaced promptly is quite frighting. Actions better be taken before the public takes matters into their own hands...

Challenges to the Fifteenth Amendment

Despite the 15th Amendment’s clear language prohibiting discrimination in the vote “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude,” 95 years would pass before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 truly gave African Americans the right to vote in a meaningful way. Opposition in the former Confederate states developed quickly and took many forms—violent voter intimidation initially and later through grandfather clauses and poll taxes.

One of the restrictions and direct challenge that the former confederate states imposed to the Fifteenth amendment were the poll taxes that they had their voters pay. If you did not have the money to pay the tax, you basically did not get to vote. Another restriction that the states enforced was grandfather clauses. The clauses prohibited people from voting if their grandfather could not vote. This was indirectly directed to the African-American population, as the majority of them had slavery in their ancestry and had no chance of bypassing this law. It was not until 1915 that the Supreme Court voided these clauses as they were a violation of the Fifteenth.

The Fifteenth Amendment (Actual Text)

Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Historical context of the Fifteenth Amendment

Life in the states before the 15th amendment's establishment was in a frenzied condition. The Reconstruction Era, a period in United States history immediately following the Civil War in which the federal government set the conditions that would allow the rebellious Southern states back into the Union, was in full swing. During this time, amendments had already been set into place to help the process. These were the Reconstruction Amendments (otherwise known as Amendments Thirteen, Fourteen, and later, Fifteen). These amendments were created to rectify the Southern states mistakes when it came to the African-American race and the rights that they owned.

At the time that the Fifteenth amendment was introduced, Slavery was already abolished on a national level and former slaves were given the right to citizenship. All that was left was to grant voting rights to the former slaves now citizens. At this time, the states had the right to enforce qualifications for voters, meaning that states could limit voting based upon just the race of the voter. Before the fifteenth, this was not a problem or concern.

However, there was one important event that helped to sway the government in favor of changing this law. The Election of 1868, between Ulysses S. Grant and Horatio Seymour. If not for the African-American votes from the south, Grant would have lost, since African-Americans couldn't vote in the north at the time. Because of this event, the republicans of government realized that the votes of the African-Americans were needed to gain power.

The Fifteenth amendment was passed by Congress in 1869, and was quickly ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1870, therefore putting it into effect upon the nation.