Author Question: Outline an affirmative action program for public university admissions that would pass ... (Read 74 times)

HudsonKB16 · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

Outline an affirmative action program for public university admissions that would pass constitutional muster.

Answer:

Question 2

Compare and contrast the due process clause and the equal protection clause in the Constitution. Define each clause and identify the amendment from which it comes, and tell how they are alike and different.

Answer:

bdobbins · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:
1. Note that affirmative action programs for college admissions cannot use quotas and cannot give specific points for being a minority. Rather, the university can use race as one of many factors it considers when offering enrollment.
2. Outline a specific program that would be acceptable to the courts. For example, a university could collect applicant data including test scores, GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, race, income, honors, and so on. When making admissions decisions, the university could look at race along with each of the other variables in a holistic fashion to decide whom to accept.

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1. Define the due process clause as a clause in the Fifth Amendment that limits the power of the national government, and explain how a similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property arbitrarily.
2. Define the equal protection clause as a clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, and explain that by interpretation, the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government.
3. Compare the due process clause and the equal protection clause, noting that together they include both state and national governments and that both have been important for expanding civil rights.
4. Contrast the due process clause and the equal protection clause. An ideal response might note that the due process clause prohibits government from taking away one's civil liberties arbitrarily, while the equal protection clause, in contrast, requires that government treat everyone equally, regardless of race, national origin, or sex.