African American civil rights have come along way since the days of slavery.

of 1957 made it a federal crime to attempt to prevent a person from voting.  Civil Rights Act of 1960 denied the right to vote by practices of discrimination.  Civil Rights Act of 1964 barred discrimination on basis of race, color, religion, or nationality in restaurants, service stations, theaters, transportation, and hotels with five rooms or more.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended the use of literacy tests.  Fair Housing Act outlawed the refusal to sell to someone on the basis of race or religion.  Today are United Stated Political system works to the disadvantage by enacting laws such as affirmative action.  This gives all races equal opportunity while applying for jobs.  Most companies must reach a quota, which is a certain number of minorities which must be hired, in order to guarantee equal opportunity.  In 2000 Hispanics passed African Americans as our largest minority located in the United States.  The biggest challenges that Hispanics face is receiving citizenship.  About 4 out of every ten Hispanics are foreign born.  In 1970 congress passed the 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act, requiring that ballots also be available in Spanish, for Spanish born children who had the right to vote.  The 24th amendment says that anyone born in the United States automatically becomes a citizen.  About seven in every ten Hispanics are citizens.  Hispanics who are not citizens are basically stripped of all advantages of living in the United States.  The welfare reform law of 1996 requires citizenship as a condition for obtaining food stamps and other welfare benefits. (pg. 135)  Not do these illegal aliens have limited rights but, they are very unlikely to exercise the limited rights they have seeing how this may draw attention to their illegal status, which would lead to their deportation.  Illegal aliens are not eligible for Medicaid, but once their child is born their child will receive all the medical attention that any other baby would receive.  Civil Liberties are constitutional and legal protections from government interference into personal rights and freedom such as freedom of assembly, speech, and religion. (pg. 103)  You can’t have a representative government without freedom of speech.  In the early years of the twentieth century the Supreme Court rejected arguments for nationalizing free speech and left it up to state governments.  By the end of World War I more than thirty states had enacted sedition laws aimed at pacifists, socialists, and communists.  Laws that would prevent violence or the “unlawful means to change the government.(pg.153)  In the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States, Schenck was sending out mailings to eligible men for the draft telling them not to report if they’re drafted.  Schenck felt that World War I was immoral.  (pg.153)  Schenck was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for attempting to foment disloyalty during times of war.(pg.153)  When the government is unable to show that particular words demonstrate a “clear and present danger, the works are protected.  The federal judiciary would adopt Holmes’s clear and present danger test as a criterion for distinguishing protected or unprotected expression.  The court ruled that Scheck’s letters were in fact a clear and present danger to our nation.  In 1969 the conviction of Ku Klux Klan leader under Ohio law was overturned by the Supreme Court.  The Klan leader called for vengeance against Jews and Blacks at a rally.  The court overturned the conviction seeing how no immediate action was taken.  You cannot be punished unless such action is imminent.  Like freedom of speech an independent press plays an important role in maintaining a representative democracy.  Without news media, politicians would find it difficult to communicate with their constituents and to keep an eye on each other.  Prior restraint is when a government, or school administration tries to prevent the publication and dissemination of written and recorded speech.(pg.160)  The courts began to distinguish prior restraint from other kinds of censorship in 1931.  In the case Near v. Minnesota (1931) Near was using the small Minnesota newspaper he edited as a platform for vilifying Jews and politicians.(pg.160)  Near later challenged the Minnesota law that allowed local courts to shut down the a newspaper or magazine that was publishing material that was offensive and scandalous.  The Supreme Court overturned the state court and effectively incorporated state policy into the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. (pg. 161)  In 1971 the court allowed prior restraint even though security concerns were raised.  The Nixon administration had won a restraining order from a lower court which prevented the New York Times from publishing the Pentagon papers.  These papers were top secret strategies that the United States was using during the Vietnam War.  The government ruled against the Nixon administration and allowed the Times to continue to publish the papers even though it could possibly damage national security.  The establishment of religion clause and the free exercise clause allowed people at the federal level to worship and religion that they pleased.  At first this only took place at the federal level, and would take years before states would be forced to obey by the same laws.  In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) in which the Court specified three conditions every state must satisfy to avoid running afoul of establishment prohibition: 1.) The statute in question “must have a secular legislative purpose, such a remedial education. 2.) The statute’s primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion. 3.) The statute must not foster “an excessive government entanglement with religion.  The word excessive government is too vague.  The Lemon test was very inconsistent in that federal courts would use it to dismantle public property, and gatherings, and other times judges approved public gatherings.  The court states that prayer in a public school is not acceptable, but had no problems when congress began their meetings with a prayer.  By 1990 the Lemon Test was not emphasized as much.  In the case of Engel v. Vitale (1962) the court ruled the following New York state composed prayer unconstitutional.  The next year it invalidated Bible readings in public schools. (pg.165)  The right to privacy is not stated in the Bill of Rights like freedom of speech, press, and religion.  The Supreme Court did not recognize the right to privacy until 1965.  In 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut that Americans guaranteed rights are not limited to though specifically identified in the Constitution.  The Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.  This amendment opened the door to unstated rights.  Privacy was not part of the Constitutions protected liberties.   The basic problems of legislative organization were how to acquire information, how to coordinate action, how to resolve conflicts, and how to get members to work for common as well as personal goals.  Problems that helped create today’s modern congress would be problems besetting the House and Senate as organizations and problems arising from competing individual and collective needs of members.  As the United States grows and becomes more complex socially, economically, and technologically information demands have grown enormously.  In order to keep up with our changing society Congress has responded  by creating a division of labor and specialization.  This division of labor has given rise to the committee and subcommittee systems, large personal and committee staffs, and specialized research agencies that characterize the modern Congress. (pg.205)  When representatives speak on the floor of the house, all remarks are officially addressed to the Speaker to help cut down on debates.  To preserve the House and Senate as the powerful legislative bodies envisioned in the Constitution, members of Congress have had to devise means to overcome barriers to effective collective action.    Even though the Budget Reform Act of 1970 was a good idea it still ended up being a failure.  The reformed budget process wasn’t able to prevent huge deficits created by the Bush and Reagan administration of the 1980’s and early 90’s.Orderly budgeting fell victim to intense conflict between Republican presidents and congressional Democrats over budget decisions.(pg.221)  Bush and Reagan wanted to keep taxes low,  Democrats wanted to protect spending on certain programs.  The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, wanted to increase taxes and cut programs to help reduce the budget deficit by 500 million billion dollars over 5 years.  Democratic leaders also planned on increasing taxes and decreasing the deficit by another 500 billion dollars, between 1994 and 1998.  Budget Politics are difficult because both parties have different views on which way money should be spent.The first step to a bill becoming a law is the bill is created.  After the bill is created it is then introduced to Legislation.  Many proposals originate outside congress from the executive branch, interest groups, constituents-but must have a congressional sponsor to enter the legislative process. (pg.224)  Most important bills are introduced in the House and Senate at the same time so they can be worked on simultaneously. (pg.225)  The next step is being assigned to a committee.  After the bill is introduced, it is assigned a number, and referred to a committee. (pg.225)  Most bills are routinely assigned to the appropriate committee; complex bills are sometimes referred to several committees, and controversial bills are occasionally handled by temporary committees appointed for that single purpose.  If the bill makes it through the previous process, which isn’t very often it then goes through the hearing stage.  The hearings provide a formal occasion for Congress the administration of the laws and programs it enacts. (pg.225)  If the sub-committee decides to act on the bill, which at this point is the spot where most bills are turned down, it is edited line by line and reported to the senate, and house floor.  The full committee then accepts, rejects, or amends the bill.  Then the final stage is getting the bill signed by the president, whether it is approved or vetoed.  The President during the 19th century assumed a very small role.  They had a greater effect of their political parties than on nation public policy.  Their accomplishments were limited to their responses to wars, rebellions, and other national crises. (pg.251)  During the 19th century federal employees were also appointed by the president.  The President would also spend a lot of time interviewing candidates for federal positions from the secretary of the state to a cities postmaster.  Presidents took more time naming their cabinet, seeing that this would play a huge role in whether or not they were elected again.  Cabinet members stay in office for six years.