Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement: 1969 to 2014 American History, Assassination, Boycott, Constitutional Amendments, Desegregation, Discrimination, Education, Equality, Freedom Marches, Jim Crow, Lunch Counter Protests, Plessy, Public Laws, Riots, Segregation, Slavery, Voting Rights, Women's Rights

1994: Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)
     The Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 took effect on February 28 under the signature of President Bill Clinton. In the new policy, gay people who wanted to join the armed forces would no longer be forced to lie about their sexual orientation, but they were still not permitted to disclose their sexuality. Though it was billed as a compromise between Clinton’s base and the military leadership and their allies in Congress, DADT prompted outrage from many gay rights advocates. 
     On December 22, 2010, the Obama Administration's DADT Repeal Act (Public Law 111-321) allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve openly in the Armed Forces. [Source: https://time.com/5339634/dont-ask-dont-tell-25-year-anniversary]

2003: Grutter v. Bollinger (539 US 306
     In 1997, Barbara Grutter, a white resident of Michigan with solid grades, was denied admission to the University of Michigan Law School. The Law School admitted it uses race as a factor in making admissions decisions because it serves a "compelling interest in achieving diversity among its student body." The District Court concluded that the Law School's stated interest in achieving diversity in the student body was not a compelling one and enjoined its use of race in the admissions process. In reversing, the Court of Appeals held that Justice Powell's opinion in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), constituted a binding precedent establishing diversity as a compelling governmental interest sufficient under strict scrutiny review to justify the use of racial preferences in admissions.
     In a 5-4 opinion, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause does not prohibit the Law School's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body. The Court reasoned that, because the Law School conducts highly individualized review of each applicant, no acceptance or rejection is based automatically on a variable such as race and that this process ensures that all factors that may contribute to diversity are meaningfully considered alongside race. [Source: "Grutter v. Bollinger." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-241]

2008: First U.S. Black President
     Barack Obama was the first man of color to be elected president of the U.S. He was born in Hawaii to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton’s army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
     After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, he moved to Chicago, and helped a group of churches rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. He went on to attend law school, becoming the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community. [Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/barack-obama]

2009: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Public Law 111-2 S. 81)
     This law, passed on January 29 overturned the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), which severely restricted the time period for filing complaints of employment discrimination concerning compensation. In addition, the Act supported the the Equal Pay Act (passed in 1963 as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act) which requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work--equal pay for equal work. [Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/facts-about-equal-pay-and-compensation-discrimination]

2013: Shelby County v. Holder (570 U.S. 529)
     This Supreme Court decision dealt with the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and Section 4(b), which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subjected to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting.
     On June 25, the Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that Section 4(b) is unconstitutional because the coverage formula is based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. The Court did not strike down Section 5, but without Section 4(b), no jurisdiction will be subject to Section 5 preclearance unless Congress enacts a new coverage formula.
     This ruling has made it easier for state officials to make it harder for Black and other racio-ethnic minority voters to vote. Research shows that preclearance led to increases in minority congressional representation and increases. There have also been cuts to early voting, purges of voter rolls and imposition of strict voter ID laws. Virtually all restrictions on voting subsequent to the ruling were by Republican officials. [Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_County_v._Holder]

2013: United States v. Windsor (570 U.S. 7440
     The Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. 
     Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, a same-sex couple residing in New York, had their marriage recognized by the state of New York in 2008; Spyer died in 2009, leaving her entire estate to Windsor. Windsor sought the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses, but was barred from doing so by Section 3 of DOMA. Seeking a refund, Windsor sued the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As the Department of Justice declined to defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) intervened to defend the law. District Judge Barbara S. Jones ruled that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional, and her ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in December 2012 and handed down its judgment on June 26, 2013, confirming the lower court's decision. [Source: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf]

2014: Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (572 U.S. 291)
      Michigan voters approved the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on November 7, 2006 which amended the state constitution to make affirmative action illegal in public employment and public education. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause does not prevent states from enacting bans on affirmative action in education. [Source: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/12-682]

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Photograph credits: Portrait image: AdobeStock,926382516; 1. Official photograph in the Oval Office, Public Domain; 2. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: 3. Library of Congress, photographer Robert S. Oakes, Public Domain; 4. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library; 5. Official Department of Labor Photograph, Public Domain; 6. Americans All; 7. SCOTUS 26195, photographer Ted Eytan—Inset: Photographer Rex Block, Public Domain; 8. Photographer Rex Block, George Bush Presidential Library and Museum