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Who is experiencing faculty/staff-student sexual misconduct in UK higher education?
No full textSexual misconduct perpetrated by staff/faculty in higher education towards students remains underexplored compared to perpetration by peers. The article examines the types of sexual misconduct students in UK higher education experience from staff and differences in experience across groups, drawing on findings from a non-representative survey of students in UK higher education (n=1768). It opens up a methodological discussion around measuring power-based sexual misconduct, introducing an adapted version of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire that removes references to whether students said no to sexual advances; accounts for how power imbalances affected ability to consent; and incorporates intersectionality. These adaptations aimed to capture the extent to which students experience a sexualised environment – i.e. sexual misconduct – rather than asking whether sexualised behaviours are unwanted. Data is analysed using a hurdle model, analysing factors that increase likelihood of experiencing sexual misconduct as well as factors that increase the amount of sexual harassment experienced. Findings show that while women were the only group to be more likely than men to have experienced sexual misconduct in general, when examining amount of misconduct experienced, women, non-binary students, Asian students, gay/lesbian and bisexual students, first-in-family, and disabled students were all more likely to experience more incidents
Assessment of behavioural modification techniques on particle-laden turbulent pipe flows
No full textIn this study, particle-laden turbulent pipe flows are predicted using direct numerical simulation of the fluid flow in combination with Lagrangian particle tracking and a deterministic energy-based particle agglomeration model, with a particular focus on predicting and elucidating the dynamics of particle–particle interactions. The models used, which were developed and validated in the present work, enhance our understanding of these flows, particularly in regards to the processes which lead to particle collision and agglomeration. The energy-based agglomeration technique is used together with four-way coupling between the particles and the fluid flow to predict particle aggregation due to collision interactions within the flow. Additionally, the impact of behavioural modification techniques, which influence particle dispersion, agglomeration and ultimately particle deposition, is investigated by varying influential parameters such as the temperature and Reynolds number of the flow, and the reduced surface potential, inverse Debye length, Hamaker constant and coefficient of restitution which govern particle–particle interactions. It is concluded that electric double layer repulsion exerts little influence on collision and agglomeration behaviour, attributable to the particle diameters examined being higher in comparison to the effective range of these forces. The study further demonstrates that the restitution coefficient has a significant influence on the behaviour of particle agglomeration, with a decrease in the coefficient resulting in increased aggregation rates. Hamaker constant and Reynolds number variations also both lead to major impacts on particle–particle interaction, with collision and agglomeration events occurring more frequently for increased Hamaker constant and Reynolds number
Revised Methods Guide for Economic Evaluation Studies of Health Technologies in Portugal
No full textDevelopment and characterization of foam-mat freeze-dried beetroot powders: Role of carrier agents in foam behavior, powder functionality, and tablet formation
No full textThis study investigates the development of foam-mat freeze-dried beetroot powders and examines the role of carrier agents, maltodextrin and xanthan gum, on powder functionality and tablet formation. All formulations contained egg white albumen (5 wt%) as a foaming agent, while compositions varied based on the presence of maltodextrin (5 wt%) and xanthan gum at various concentrations (0.05, 0.1, or 0.2 wt%). Foams were prepared by whipping beetroot juice mixtures, followed by freeze-drying. The addition of maltodextrin slightly improved foam expansion (from ∼450 % to ∼460 %) and foam stability, whereas xanthan gum significantly increased the foam stability, with no drainage observed at 0.1 and 0.2 wt% within 180 min. However, foam expansion decreased to ∼370 % at 0.2 wt% xanthan gum content. Maltodextrin improved flowability (Hausner Ratio, HR: 1.29 vs. 1.32 for control) and reduced hygroscopicity (23.5 % vs. 26.0 %), while xanthan gum increased particle irregularity and cohesiveness, thus leading to higher HR values (up to 1.47) and poorer flow. The inclusion of xanthan gum also reduced powder solubility from ∼92 % down to ∼77 %. Kawakita analysis showed that maltodextrin and xanthan gum reduced plastic deformation and powder compactness. Tablets prepared from these powders exhibited reduced tensile strength and density compared to the control. Color analysis indicated that carrier addition increased lightness (L∗) and decreased redness (a∗), primarily due to pigment dilution and reduced compactness
Unpacking the Gendered Impact of Scarcity Cues and Customer Ratings on Online Hotel Bookings and Recommendations
No full textTo drive conversions, e-commerce and m-commerce platforms often employ various scarcity cues within their booking interfaces. These fall into two categories: limited-quantity (e.g., "Last room available!") and limited-time (e.g., "Offer ends in 3 hours!"). The utility of such cues extends to hotels, regardless of their overall customer ratings. Meanwhile, although gender serves as one of the primary factors for market segmentation, the differential reactions of men and women to various marketing cues within the online marketplace have not been thoroughly investigated. Hence, this paper investigates how gender influences consumers’ booking and recommendation intentions in response to scarcity cues for hotels with varying customer ratings. An online experiment (N = 385, 181 men and 204 women) was conducted. It manipulated scarcity cue type (limited-quantity and limited-time) and customer ratings (high and low) as between-participants factors. Booking intention was generally higher among men. This was particularly true under conditions of limited-quantity scarcity and high customer ratings. Moreover, men exhibited a higher intention to recommend compared with women when facing limited-quantity scarcity. The findings deepen the scholarly understanding of the gendered impact of scarcity cues and customer ratings on online hotel bookings and recommendations
"Well, I am now looking after this bloody rabbit!" Restorying care in the lives of people with learning disabilities
No full textThis paper seeks to explore how care has been theorised in ways that have served to exclude people with learning disabilities from being recognised as care-givers, and positioned them, instead, almost exclusively, as passive recipients of care. Working with people with learning disabilities, our aim is to explore, recognise and record caring relationships in their lives, paying attention to the care given as well as the care received by people so labelled. We follow Nishida (2022) to argue that we need to be always attentive to spaces of care as potential sites of (in)justice for people with learning disabilities who engage in caring relationships in messy dependency with others
Water Incorporation Mechanisms and Effects in MgSiO3-Majorite Under High Temperature and Pressure Conditions
No full textThe incorporation of water in high-pressure minerals is essential for the water cycle within the interiors of terrestrial planets. Majoritic garnet, a major component in the mantles of Earth and Mars, plays a significant role in this context. In this study, we use first-principles simulations to explore water incorporation mechanisms in MgSiO3-majorite, which is a key end-member of majoritic garnet, at conditions up to 2,000 K and 20 GPa. By dealing with the relationship between chemical potential and the Gibbs free energy changes for the reactions at equilibrium conditions, we determine the ratios of the seven potential hydrous defects. Our results reveal that the Si2 and Si3 defects, which are of the hydrogarnet-type, dominate water incorporation in MgSiO3-majorite. In addition, we evaluate the effects of these hydrous defects on seismic wave velocities. The presence of Si2 and Si3 defects, with an expected water concentration of ∼700 ppm, has a small effect on both P-wave and S-wave velocities. Nevertheless, the influence of water on lateral variations in the seismic wave velocities of MgSiO3-majorite, which is opposite to that found for ringwoodite, offers a potential tool for investigating compositional heterogeneities in hydrated regions of planetary mantles
The impact of N-back-induced mental workload and time budget on takeover performance
No full textMental Workload (MWL) refers to the specification of information processing capacity used for maintaining task performance. Some studies find no effects of high MWL on the timing and quality of takeovers, whilst others have found increases in crash risk and delayed response times. The effect of time budget – the time between event onset and an impending crash − is much clearer; drivers react faster when time budgets are smaller. However, no study has investigated whether the effects of a pure MWL interact with the effects of time budget during critical takeovers from a hands-off Level 2 (L2) driving system. A Bayesian multilevel modelling approach was used to quantify the direction, size, and uncertainty of the effects that MWL and time budget have on driver performance. Drivers (N = 37) used a hands-off L2 driving system: once while completing a pure MWL task (2-back) and another while monitoring the road. Rear-end conflicts were generated via lead vehicles decelerating with short (TTC = 3 s) or long (TTC = 5 s) time budgets. 2-back-induced MWL had no consistent or substantial impact on the timing or quality of takeovers. Conversely, drivers were faster to respond but more erratic in their post-takeover lateral control following events with smaller time budgets. We discuss the reasons for the absence of effects from the 2-back-induced MWL on takeover performance. One suggestion is that rear-end scenarios elicit automatised behaviours that do not rely upon cognitive control and thus remained unaffected by MWL. Conversely, scenarios that require cognitive control (e.g., lane change manoeuvres or hazard perception tasks) may be more susceptible to the detrimental effects of MWL during transitions of control
It is time to recognise shared decision-making as a complex intervention
No full textObjective
Shared decision-making (SDM) is a core component of personalised health care. Populations continue to diversify in their health and social care needs. We argue that established SDM models (focusing on the interaction between patient and practitioner) do not reflect the complexity of patient presentations nor the wider influences on patients’ health and health care encounters. The route from SDM to positive health and health service outcomes are currently obscured. For SDM to be utilised without limit, and for SDM to impact health care policy, it is best understood as a complex intervention.
Discussion
SDM as a complex intervention is characterised by multiple interacting components, influenced by agents acting at several levels of a socioecological model (personal-, interpersonal-, organisational-, societal-, policy- level). The components have non-linear pathways (from cause to effect) existing within and interacting with the context in which SDM is implemented. SDM components are tailorable: Tailoring can enable personalised care for individuals and effect changes in desired outcomes for specific populations and settings. The development of programme theory, for example utilising logic modelling, will be essential for articulating and planning the evaluation of these complex pathways. A standardised framework of SDM outcomes, spanning the socioecological model, would guide the assessment of SDM process and effect. Programme theory, logic modelling, and consistent assessment will together reveal the route to positive outcomes for patients, carers, practitioners and health services and, in turn, will impact policy.
Conclusion
It is time to recognise SDM as a complex intervention. Simplistic definitions should no longer be attempted. SDM should be conceptualised as being wider than the consultation itself with components that are defined by and tailored to the context of its adoption, implementation and sustainability, considering influences that span the socioecological model of the health care system
The Second Reconstruction: The United States Supreme Court and the Disenfranchisement of Black Americans
No full textThe "Second Reconstruction" is about to end, and the politics of white control is once again becoming the perpetuated norm in Southern American states. And, the United States Supreme Court can be acknowledged as the dominant institution orchestrating the disenfranchisement of African Americans. In cases of political equity, the Court frequently decides contrary to the advancement of Black Americans. Through analyzing the Court's position regarding black political rights, beginning with the termination of the Radical Reconstruction Era (1867-1877) and ending with the present Bush v. Gore (2000) case, the establishment and the fall of the First and Second Reconstruction will be evaluated. Furthermore, the recognition of the United States Supreme Court as the most valuable player for both defending and achieving the collapse of each Reconstruction will ultimately prove that the Court supports the Southern system of disenfranchising black voters.Senior Thesis
The Second Reconstruction:
The United States Supreme Court and the Disenfranchisement of
Black Americans
May 22, 2001
Professor Jill Locke
Patricia A. Booker
Gustavus Student Repository
The "Second Reconstruction" is about to end, and the politics
of white control is once again becoming the perpetuated norm in
Southern American states. And, the United States Supreme Court can
be acknowledged as the dominant institution orchestrating the
disenfranchisement of African Americans. In cases of political
equity, the Court frequently decides contrary to the advancement of
Black Americans. Through analyzing the Court's position regarding
black political rights, beginning with the termination of the
Radical Reconstruction Era (1867-1877) and ending with the present
Bush v. Gore (2000) case, the establishment and the fall of the
First and Second Reconstruction will be evaluated. Furthermore, the
recognition of the United States Supreme Court as the most valuable
player for both defending and achieving the collapse of each
Reconstruction will ultimately prove that the Court supports the
Southern system of disenfranchising black voters.
African Americans and their position within the political
arena have been a topic of concern since the late eighteenth
century. After the abolishment of slavery in 1865 the Southern
states resisted the integration of African Americans into the social
order as either citizens or political animals. Black codes,
"numerous laws enacted in the states of the former Confederacy
designed to replace the social controls of slavery that had been
removed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth
Amendment, "
1
were the impervious tools by which the South excluded
blacks from the political sphere. The black codes kept African
Americans subordinate socially, thus making it impossible for them
1 Jonathan Earle, The Routledge Atlas of African American History (New York: Routledge Press, 2000), 66.
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to constitutionally attain legal political rights. However, the
Northern states combated the social subjugation of blacks as noncitizens
in order to propel them [blacks] into the political arena.
Through the Reconstruction Act of 1867, the North forced all states
that rejoined the Union to accept both the Fourteenth Amendment,
which redefined natural citizens so as to include blacks, and the
Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed blacks the right to vote.
Northern troops were allowed to supervise elections in an attempt to
secure the freedmen's guaranteed right.
This era of Radical Reconstruction, 1867-1877, mainly focused
on the political rights of African Americans. The Republican North
focused on the blacks because their political allegiance would
increase the probability of a Republic-elect for President since
blacks held a great majority of the voting population in the South
after the abolishment of slavery.
Blacks and their white Unionist and Northern Allies
organized Union leagues to mobilize new black voters for
the Republican Party; by September 1867 there were
735,000 black voters and only 635,000 white voters in the
ten southern states. 2
And it is this black majority within the political arena that set in
motion the hysteria calling for disenfranchisement of black males in
the South. The first step to controlling black voter participation
was the creation of white racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The effort to affect the ... political changes in the South
and to define the meaning of freedom in expansive terms
[for African Americans] spawned a counterrevolution. The
KKK ... undertook a sustained campaign of murder and
intimidation aimed at driving blacks from the political
arena and driving their white supporters from the South. 3
2 Ibid. 66-67
3 John R. Howard The Shifting Wind (New York: State University of New York Press, 1999) 118.
2
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Thus, intimidation was the means by which black voter participation
was kept at a minimum, if existent at all, within the United States.
Not only the KKK resisted black participation, but also high
state officials. For example, the North and South agreed upon the
Enforcement Act of 1870 to overcome each other's fears. Whereas the
North needed black participation for political gain, the South
feared black participation would guarantee complete, black political
reign.
rights
And the Enforcement Act, guaranteeing all citizens equal
and protection to vote, but also including the
constitutionality of prerequisites of qualification before one
votes, was the Act that best accommodated both the North and the
South. Therefore, this act made it possible for African Americans to
vote, but the Southern states had a constitutional right to
reinstate "poll taxes, literacy tests, and property requirements to
disfranchise black citizens. " 4
By 1877, the Republican North abandoned the role of
reconstructing the South. All military arms were removed and blacks
were left to practice suffrage in a racist atmosphere that aimed to
legally disenfranchise black voters. Although the Fifteenth
Amendment guaranteed blacks the right to vote without
discrimination, alternative action was taken to circumvent this
right.
[A] plethora of insidious methodologies for preventing
African Americans from exercising their voting rights
were successfully implemented by racist whites who
dominated the corridors leading to voting booths. Voter
qualifying tests ... discriminatory enforcement of
registration rules, poll taxes, and outright racial
gerrymandering were just some of the devices standing
4 Earle, 67.
3
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between African Americans and their constitutionally
guaranteed rights to both register to vote and vote. 5
Although unconstitutional, discrimination against blacks, especially
in the South, was extensive . Blacks, now being citizens of the
States, began to seek redress in the courts for the inequities in
voting . In this analysis all cases included were heard and decided
by the United States Supreme Court. These decisions will ultimately
unveil the Court's part in disenfranchising the black voter .
The first case the Supreme Court decided that allowed the
Southern states to impose discriminatory measures upon black
Americans in the political arena was Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) .
The decision in this case is important because it was the first step
in minimizing federal power under the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment . In deciding that a monopoly in the
slaughterhouse business did not deprive other companies in the
business of their \'livelihood, 11 the Court wrote:
Thus,
The language [of the Fourteenth Amendment] is: "No state
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States . " [I] f this clause was intended as a protection
to the citizen of a state against the legislative power
of his own state, that the words "citizen of the state"
should be left out when it is so carefully used .. in
contradistinction to "citizens of the United States" in
the very sentence which precedes it. It is too clear for
argument that the change in phraseology was adopted
understandingly and with a purpose.
6
the Supreme Court at this moment established a dual
citizenship within the United States . And it is this dual
5
Craig Newburger, Race, Racism and the Law: Speaking Truth to Power! Available from
http:www.udayton.edu/-race/
6 David M. O'Brien Constitutional Law and Politics: Civil Rights and Liberties (New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 2000) 267.
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citizenship that made it impossible for blacks in the future to
bring discrimination charges within the state to the federal level.
Of the privileges and immunities of the citizens of the
United States, and of the privileges and immunities of
the citizen of the state, and what they respectively
are ... we wish to state here that it is only the former
which are placed by [the Equal Protection Clause] under
the protection of the Federal Constitution, and that the
latter, whatever they may be, are not intended to have
any additional protection by this paragraph of the
Amendment. 7
By declaring that state discrimination can be deemed either
constitutional or unconstitutional under that particular state's
constitution allowed the South to perpetuate many of its tactics to
exclude blacks from the political square. This decision, most
importantly, allowed "state action" as opposed to \'individual
action" decide whether the Federal or State Constitution had
jurisdiction over resolving the legitimacy of the act committed.
Hence the Court's decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) marked
the beginning of the Court aiding the South in its elimination of
the First Reconstruction and black political progress.
The consequences of the limitations the Supreme Court set upon
the Equal Protection Clause under the notion of "dual citizenship"
became evident two years later in the cases of United States v.
Reese (1875) and United States v. Cruikshank et al. (1875). In
Reese, William Garner of Kentucky was not allowed to vote at a state
election by two inspectors of the election. Garner argued that his
inability to cast a vote in the election was unconstitutional
because it violated his Fifteenth Amendment right to vote. In its
decision the Court relied on the limitations posed in the
7 Ibid. 267
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Slaughterhouse case. Dual citizenship was vital to the Court's
decision to not interfere. Justice Waite announced "If Congress has
not declared an act done within a State to be a crime against the
United States, then courts have no power to treat it as such. ,,a
Hence, only if the crime committed proved detrimental to the entire
nation would the Court even consider it. This simple statement from
the Court seemed to defend the South in its attempts
disenfranchise blacks by any means possible.
to
Not only dual citizenship, but also limiting the meaning of
the Fourteenth Amendment was a tool used by the Court to aid the
South in removing black political power. Justice Waite indicated in
the Court's decision that
The Fifteenth Amendment does not confer the right to
suffrage upon anyone. It prevents the States or the
United States, however, from giving preference ... to one
citizen of the United States over another on account of
race ... Previous to this amendment, there was no
constitutional guaranty against this discrimination, now
there is ... [Tl he Amendment has invested the citizens with a
new constitutional right ... exemption from discrimination in
the exercise of the elective franchise on account of
race. 9
This statement allowed for African Americans to suffer tremendously
in the hands of anti-black politics. Because, now, the Fifteenth
Amendment goes only as far as to protect blacks from discrimination,
but it does not guarantee blacks the right to vote. Simple
protection from discrimination did little to nothing in helping
blacks attain full voting rights under the Equal Protection Clause.
The Court went farther in its removal of black suffrage in
the similar case of United States v. Cruikshank et al. (1875). In
8 United States v. Reese, 92 U. S. 214 (1875)
9 Ibid.
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this case Cruikshank and others banded together and murdered two
blacks when they tried to participate in political affairs in the
state of Louisiana. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the
Court went farther than they had in the previous decision of Reese.
Dual citizenship and limited protection under the Fourteenth
Amendment were all considered in the decision declaring that
Cruikshank et al. were not guilty of prohibiting blacks their right
to vote. However, this decision stretched so far as to make some
parts of the Enforcement Act of 1870 unconstitutional. "Because the
said [Enforcement Act of 1870] , in so far as it creates offences and
imposes penalties, is in violation of the Constitution of the United
States, and an infringement of the rights of the several States and
the people. ,, io This portion of the decision, more than any other,
allowed the black community to realize that they were not protected
from any intimidation or discrimination at the polls. In Reese, the
Court protected the whites by declaring that the language of the
Enforcement Act was ambiguous: "Laws which prohibit the doing of
things and provide a punishment for their violation, should have no
double meaning. 11 11 But, in Cruikshank, the Court decided that
imposing penalties under the Act was unconstitutional. Hence, the
impact, of both Reese and Cruikshank on black voting rights, were
crucial. "The decisions promoted the removal of black concerns from
the national political arena." 12
The next step by which the Court completely defended the
racist tendencies of the white South was seen in The Civil Rights
" United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875)
11 Ibid.
12 Howard, 118.
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Cases (1883). Now that the Enforcement Act was declared
unconstitutional in imposing penalties for any violation of the
actions prescribed there in, the only other resource black Americans
had access to was the Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights
Act of 1875. However, these two outlets would be found either void
or limited in the Civil Rights Cases. In the case, various blacks
had been denied access to hotels, theaters, and railway companies by
the owners, despite Constitutional protection against it. In the
Court's decision, Justice Bradley disabled blacks by declaring the
Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional because it "attempt [s] to
punish private citizens operating inns, theaters ... for engaging in
racial discrimination was beyond national power. " 13 He applied the
private citizen argument to also limit the scope of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
It is State action of a particular character that is
prohibited. Individual invasion of individual rights is
not the subject matter of the amendment ... And so in the
present case, until some State law has been passed, or
some State action through its officers or agents has been
taken ... no legislation of the United States ... can be called
into activity.14
Thus, by 1883, the Supreme Court had already decided contrary to the
advancement of black Americans in the political sphere. With the
imposing of penalties under
unconstitutional, the Civil
the
Rights
Enforcement
Act of
Act
1883
found
found
unconstitutional, and the limiting of the Equal Protection Clause to
merely protect against State action as opposed to private action,
set the stage for the complete disenfranchisement of black voters.
13 Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883) 14 Ibid.
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The effect of the Court's decisions in Reese, Cruikshank,
[and The Civil Rights Cases] had been to disarm effective
law enforcement relative to anti-black error in any
event. To all intents and purposes Reconstruction was
already dead. .. [T]he Court's decisions, relative to
suppression of the black vote, ended the last vestiges of
a policy already rendered incapable of securing safety in
general for blacks or access to the ballot in
particular. 15
Hence, again, the Court's participation in the denial of black
access to the ballot is seen as necessary for the South to have
attained complete disenfranchisement as it had by the 1900's.
While complete usurpation of political power was both
inevitable and prevalent within the South after the Supreme Court's
decisions, blacks reverted back to social equity to, again, propel
them into the political game. Since it took the Fourteenth
Amendment to include blacks within the sphere of citizenship and
prompt their right to vote, it would take the next step of social
equity-desegregation-to secure more readily the full right to vote.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was the case that attempted to bring about
social equity. Homer Plessy, from Louisiana, was not allowed to sit
in the white section of the railroad cars. Plessy argued that the
Louisiana law upholding segregation "violated the Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Amendment, " and implied inferiority of the black race.
16
The Supreme Court decided that the Thirteenth Amendment was
irrelevant and went further to suggest that
The object of the [Fourteenth] Amendment was undoubtedly
to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before
the law, but ... i t could not have been intended to abolish
distinctions based upon color, or to enforce
social ... equality ... The argument also assumes that social
prejudices may be overcome by legislation ... If the two
15 Howard, 116.
16
O'Brien, 1326.
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races are to meet upon terms of social equality, it must
be the result of natural affinities."
This decision was important not only because it allowed for the
doctrine of "separate, but equal" but also because it excluded
social equality from the Fourteenth Amendment.
Now that the decision suggested that social equality must come
from the individual allowed the South to perfect its policy of
segregation socially without federal interference. And, in relation
to political rights, the South understood that without complimentary
social rights, political rights would be hard for African Americans
to attain. So, with the constitutional law of "separate but equal"
infesting the social fabric, the South began to infect the political
fabric with the reestablishments of prerequisites that almost
completely disabled blacks from participating in politics.
Understanding that the purpose of the poll taxes and literacy
tests were to deter black voter participation, whites became aware
that these same methodologies were disabling members of the white
race as well. "Property, literacy ... , or good character tests could
normally or by administrative manipulation exclude virtually all
black voters, but poor, unschooled whites also had good reason to
fear these disenfranchising mechanisms. " 18 Because the prerequisites
were never meant to decrease white voter turnout, Southern states
began writing new prerequisites within their constitutions to ensure
white voter
participation.
17 Norton, 1328-1329.
18
Howard, 183.
participation, but necessarily exclude black
In 1890, Mississippi was the first state to enact
Gustavus Student Repository
the "Grandfather Clause, a constitutional way of disenfranchising
black voters without also excluding white voters. • 19
From 1890 until 1910, these Grandfather Clauses were enacted
throughout the South-South Carolina, Louisiana, North Carolina,
Alabama, and Virginia. It was not until the Oklahoma Grandfather
Clause was established in 1910 that the Supreme Court was called to
decide the cons ti tutionali ty of such clauses throughout the South.
When the clause was brought to the Supreme Court in 1915 in the case
of Guinn v. United States, the state law read:
No person shall be registered as an elector of this state or
be allowed to vote in any election held herein, unless he be
able to read and write any section of the constitution of the
State of Oklahoma, but no person who was, on January 1, 1866,
or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under any form
of government, or who at that time resided in some foreign
nation, and no lineal descendant of such person, shall be
denied the right to register and vote because of his inability
to so read and write sections of such constitution. 20
It was clear that the state's aim was to completely disable blacks
to participate in the voting sphere. And when declaring whether or
not the law was unconstitutional, the Court focused on the Fifteenth
Amendment's right to vote as opposed to the Fourteenth Amendment.
In the decision, Justice White stated:
We say this because we are unable to discover how, unless
the prohibitions of the Fifteenth Amendment were
considered, the slightest reason was afforded for basing
the classification upon a period of time prior to the
Fifteenth Amendment. Certainly it cannot be said that
there was any peculiar necromancy in the time named which
engendered attributes affecting the qualification to vote
which would not exist at another and different period
unless the Fifteenth Amendment was in view . 21
19 Earle, 172 20 Guinn & Beal v. United States, 238 U.S. 347 (1915)
21 Ibid.
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Although the Fifteenth Amendment was enough to declare the
Grandfather Clause unconstitutional, the scope of the decision did
little to help black Americans against other prerequisites found
constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. The fact that the
Court did not take a stand at this point to remove limitations on
the Fourteenth Amendment regarding equal protection, in regards to
voting, illustrates that the Court, yet, encouraged the
disenfranchising of black voters. Had the law not included the date
prior to