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POLS 105G: American Constitutional Law: Fourteenth Amendment

This guide will help you find information about the United States Constitution and its amendments, including primary sources.

The Fourteenth Amendment: What Does It Actually Say?

Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment states:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

 

Books About Fourteenth Amendment Issues

Books located in the Stacks may be borrowed from the Library with your student ID card. To view electronic books from off-campus, enter the same login and password that you use to open your "Student Workday" account.

U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade

For information on this topic, please click on the tab labeled "Abortion," above.

Another Win for Women's Soccer -- This Time for Equal Pay

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) has settled its six-year lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for $24 million, ending a high-profile fight for women to receive compensation and working conditions equal to men who perform the same job. For more information, read these news stories:

  • USWNT, U.S. Soccer Federation settle equal pay lawsuit for $24 million -- ESPN
  • U.S. Soccer and Women’s Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit -- New York Times
  • U.S. Women’s Soccer Players, U.S. Soccer Federation Reach $24 Million Equal Pay Settlement -- Wall Street Journal

One of the central issues in equal pay litigation has been the question of whether the 14th Amendment's promise of equal protection applies to working conditions, such as salary. The Equal Pay Act, passed in 1963, protects against wage discrimination based on sex, and covers both men and women. There are several elements that must be met in compensation discrimination complaints under the Equal Pay Act: the jobs being compared must require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and be performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment.

Despite passage of the Equal Pay Act, women's earnings have continued to lag behind men's in most sectors of the economy. Other legislation, such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, passed in 2009, and the Paycheck Fairness Act (still waiting to be passed by Congress), have attempted to remedy the situation.

For more information about the pay gap and gender discrimination in the workplace, take a look at these books.

It's easy to borrow books with LIBRARY to GO!

Good news!

Even though both NCC Libraries are open again, you can still borrow books and other materials remotely by using our Library to Go service. You can choose quick pickup on campus, or free delivery to your home.

Use Library to Go PLUS to request:

  • Access to materials that your instructor has put on electronic reserve in Blackboard;
  • Scanned pages from reference books like encyclopedias;
  • Scanned articles from print journals in the Library's Periodicals Tower.