Washington v. Davis Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact

In Washington v. Davis (1976), the Supreme Court ruled that laws or procedures that have a disparate impact (also called an adverse effect), but are facially neutral and do not have discriminatory intent, are valid under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A plaintiff must show that the government action has both a disparate impact and a discriminatory intent for it to be unconstitutional. Fast Facts: Washington v. Davis Case Argued: March 1, 1976Decision Issued:  June 7, 1976Petitioner: Walter E. Washington, Mayor of Washington, D.C., et alRespondent:   Davis, et alKey Questions: Did Washington, D.C.’s police recruiting procedures violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?Majority Decision: Justices Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, and StevensDissenting: Justices Brennan and MarshallRuling: The Court held that as the D.C. Police Departments procedures and written personnel test did not have discriminatory intent and were racially neutral measures of employment qualification, they did not constitute racial discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. Facts of the Case Two black applicants were rejected from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department after failing Test 21, an exam which measured verbal ability, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The applicants sued, arguing that they had been discriminated against on the basis of race. A disproportionately low number of black applicants passed Test 21, and the complaint alleged that the test violated the applicant’s rights under the Fifth Amendments Due Process Clause. In response, the District of Columbia filed for summary judgment, asking the court to dismiss the claim. The District Court looked only at the validity of Test 21 to rule on summary judgment. The District Court focused on the fact that applicants could not show intentional or purposeful discrimination. The court granted the District of Columbia’s petition for summary judgment. The applicants appealed the District Court’s judgment on a constitutional claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals found in favor of the applicants. They adopted the Griggs v. Duke Power Company test, invoking Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had not been brought up in the claim. According to the Court of Appeals, the fact that the Police Department’s usage of Test 21 did not have any discriminatory intent was irrelevant. The disparate impact was enough to show a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. The District of Columbia petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari and the Court granted it. Constitutional Issues Is Test 21 unconstitutional? Do facially-neutral recruiting procedures violate the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause if they disproportionately impact a specific protected group? The Arguments Attorneys on behalf of the District of Columbia argued that Test 21 was facially neutral, meaning that the test was not designed to adversely impact a particular group of people. In addition, they stated that the Police Department had not discriminated against the applicants. In fact, according to the attorneys, the Police Department had made a major push to hire more black applicants, and between 1969 and 1976, 44% of recruits had been black. The test was only one part of a comprehensive recruiting program, which required a physical test, high school graduation or an equivalent certificate, and a score of 40 out of 80 on Test 21, an examination which was developed by the Civil Service Commission for federal servants. Attorneys on behalf of the applicants argued that the Police Department had discriminated against black applicants when it required them to pass an exam unrelated to job performance. The rate at which black applicants failed the test compared to white applicants demonstrated a disparate impact. According to the applicant’s attorneys, the use of the test violated the applicant’s rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Majority Decision Justice Byron White delivered the 7-2 decision. The Court evaluated the case under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. According to the Court, the fact that an act disproportionately impacts one racial classification does not make it unconstitutional. In order to prove that an official act is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, the plaintiff must show that the respondent acted with discriminatory intent. According to the majority: â€Å"Nevertheless, we have not held that a law, neutral on its face and serving ends otherwise within the power of government to pursue, is invalid under the Equal Protection Clause simply because it may affect a greater proportion of one race than of another.† When addressing the legality of Test 21, the Court chose only to rule on whether it was constitutional. This meant that the Court did not rule on whether it violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Instead, it evaluated the constitutionality of the test under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Test 21 did not violate the applicant’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the plaintiffs could not show that the test: was not neutral; andwas created/used with discriminatory intent. Test 21, according to the majority, was designed to evaluate an applicant’s basic communication skills independent of individual characteristics. The majority opinion clarified, â€Å"As we have said, the test is neutral on its face, and rationally may be said to serve a purpose the Government is constitutionally empowered to pursue.† The court also noted that the Police Department had made strides to even out the ratio between black and white officers in the years since the case was filed. Dissenting Opinion Justice William J. Brennan dissented, joined by Justice Thurgood Marshall. Justice Brennan argued that the applicants would have succeeded in their claim that Test 21 had a discriminatory impact if they had argued on statutory, rather than constitutional, grounds. The courts should have evaluated the case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before looking to the Equal Protection Clause. The dissent also expressed concerns that future Title VII claims would be adjudicated based on the majority decision in Washington v. Davis. Impact Washington v. Davis evolved the concept of disparate impact discrimination in constitutional law. Under Washington v. Davis, plaintiffs would need to prove discriminatory intent if a test was shown to be facially neutral when mounting a constitutional challenge. Washington v. Davis was part of a series of legislative and court-based challenges to disparate impact discrimination, up to and including Ricci v. DeStefano (2009). Sources Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976).

Personal Experience Moving to the United States Essay

I never in my life did expect one day to write an essay for the Spanish Travel Scholarship and to write it in English! Fifteen year ago I was a typical Italian architecture student who, beyond doubt, had not yet established her role in the local, national, and global community, or her purpose in life. I spent my college years making my parents proud, and fulfilling teachers’ expectations. Nevertheless architecture wasn’t my college decision. It was my dad’s dream. When I was six years of age, he lost his engineering firm because of a stroke. He reinvented himself various times, after the stroke, but he has never been able to rebuild his engineering firm from the ashes. My architecture degree was his last opportunity to reopen his beloved†¦show more content†¦I had the amazing privilege to serve as an informal ambassador for my country of birth (Italy), clearing up cultural stereotypes, and creating positive connections between two cultures. I had the j oy of meeting people from other cultures. Sharing problems, connecting with cultural differences and similarities gave me the opportunity to learn not only about other cultures but also about local and global issues. The desire to understand these issues, and to solve them (like for example immigration issues with Mexican-born people living in the United States) inspired me to apply for the study abroad program-language immersion in Cuernavaca, Mexico. I chose this program because I believe that knowing Spanish will enable me to become a better person, a better global citizen, and a better teacher. In the past, I had the privilege of working, in my community, with ESL students whose families were unfamiliar with the American school system and recently with the daughter of one of my friends from Mexico. My friend, even after 20 years in the U.S., barely speaks English and because of that she can only work as a housekeeper. 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Middle East case studies Elixir Technology Free Essays

1.  Ã‚  Entering the Middle East market through Malaysia is the best alternative at this time. Malaysia has a market not dissimilar with that of the Middle East. We will write a custom essay sample on Middle East case studies: Elixir Technology or any similar topic only for you Order Now Entering Middle East via this option gives the Company an opportunity to partner with a company which has insights on working in a Muslim country. This way, Elixir is not starting with zero knowledge since this entry strategy is a duplication of what it did in Japan. 2.  Ã‚  Elixir develops and sells computer software which includes the stand-alone and the server-side versions of the Elixir Report. These two versions provide business an enterprise-class reporting solution. ER â€Å"was designed for high-performance operation, capable of handling large report generation† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 4). As such, Elixir Report is â€Å"able to accommodate multiple input data source types and provide reports in multiple output formats† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 4). Aside from these benefits, ER can support multilingual reporting and platform independence, and can support mobile devices. The core competencies of Elixir for its ER are: Speed in adopting changes in the environment and technologies into ER’s programs and applications. As a matter of Elixir claims that flexibility is built in into the Company’s spirit   (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). Network with technology vendors. This relationship enables Elixir to rapidly fit its ER into a client’s information system which was sourced from a particular vendor or several vendors. Capacity and capability to localize the Elixir Report into specific customer requirements. This capacity and capability is a result of the unique design of ER which enables Elixir for â€Å"easy modification for accommodating local cultural needs† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). 3.  As the Company recognized the positive relationship between its understanding of it’s customers’ technology vendors and the efficiency of the sales process, Elixir made developing partnerships with other technology vendors the basis of its â€Å"marketing, sales and distribution strategy† ((O’Neil, 2004, p. 6). Another component of its marketing strategy is stressing that other technology companies translate their products instead of localizing them as what Elixir does (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). Also, the Company provided for a free trial of the software which can be downloaded from the Company’s Web site (O’Neil, 2004, p. 9). By scaling the software into different versions and selling licensing agreements, Elixir is able to sell ER at a price 50 percent lower than its competitors. This scalability, however, is not a liability in terms of software performance. 4.  Ã‚  Elixir, as to its plan and strategy to expand outside Singapore, has been averagely successful. For example, in its entry into Japan, the Company’s initial marketing strategy – advertising in international magazines – generated low response from Japanese customers. However, this was remedied with the Company’s partnership with GrapeCity which enabled Elixir to bridge cultural gap and language barriers. This same strategy can be used in entering the Middle east market. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes, based on the facts presented, it is financially beneficial for Lau Shih Hor to take Elixir into the Middle East. I suggest that Lau pursues a distribution partnership with a Malaysian-based company. This company has a better understanding of the Middle East market than Lau which will allow the Company to better localize ER which is one of the product’s competitive advantages. References O’Neil, E. (2004). Elixir Technology – Entry into the Middle East. Ivey Management Services, pp. 1-24. How to cite Middle East case studies: Elixir Technology, Essay examples

The Challenges of Security Sector Reform

Question: Briefly highlight the value of the project? Answer: In the past decade, security has emerged as an essential component of national and international policy in conflict impacted society. SSR has its origins with peace building participations and it is designed to perform the development and security. It is critical to address the conflicts and establish the democratic accountability. Security sector reform has come a long way since it has emerged on the international security and policy development. This model is a mainstay in policy building and the main innovation of the SSR model is to focus on its governance. The effectiveness and professionalism of the security is not only measured by the security forces and its ability but also it helps to identify the forces that cannot perform their responsibilities effectively. (Gartland, 2015) The objective of SSR is to help the government of developing the countries completing their legitimate security functions through reforms that will deliver the security in an effective manner. It is designed to support the country specific conflict prevention programs and it is done by proper guidance on SSR policy between strategies. The major instruments of this strategy are military education courses, courses funded under defense. Security reform is a relative new and evolving concept that supports the countries to recognize security sector reforms such as to adopt a broad definition of the security sector, to understand the benefits of varying degrees from SSR and to build the capacity to assist reforming countries and to develop their own frameworks. (Beijing, 2002) Over the last decade, the losses to countries emerge from conflict and it has focused its attention on state security sectors. Thus, the UN, the World Bank have increasingly concerned with promoting security sector reform. The international community responds in a more integrated approach to deal with security issues and security reform is a part of an attempt to handle disorder and violence. Security sector reform aims to help states increase the security domain based on mechanisms that increases transparency and accountability. It is an essential element of the effort to increase governance. It aims and helps to understand the importance of governance issues and to deal with policy making. (Chanaa, 2002) Security sector reform also has wide range of implications for dealing with the establishments on security and development assistance. The implications only states to provide security assistance and the response of states to the 11th September terrorist attacks on the USA might delay the growth of the security sector reform agenda. Increase in its importance is being placed on development of cooperation and intelligence services. There is a risk that security sector reform will become subordinate to different anti-terrorism activities in countries with respect to the development of the cooperation. With respect to SSR, there could have participation of civil society and international community. It takes a long term view and develops a critical mass for reform and supports the development of national strategies of security. This motivates local ownership and ensures that the process of reform is consultative with respect to the support of capacity to governance reform. (Tadesse, 2007) References Beijing, S. 2002. Chapter 4: The challenges of security sector reform. Stockholm international peace research institute. Chanaa, J. 2002. Security sector reform: Issues challenges and prospects. The international security sector advisory team. Gartland, J. 2015. Comparing the EUs declaratory and operational foreign policies: The case of the EUs security sector reform mission in Guinea Bissau. Tadesse, M. 2007. Chapter 5: Overcoming challenges for security sector reform in the horn of Africa. ISS Africa.