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12. Which of the following constitutional provisions provides the most obvious basis of plaintiff's claim in this suit?
A group of citizens who are members of minority racial groups file suit in federal district court seeking a declaratory judgment that the single-member districts in Green City are unconstitutional. They claim that the single-member districting system diminishes the ability of voters who are members of minority racial groups to affect the outcome of the city elections. They seek an order from the court forcing the city to adopt an at-large election system in which the five candidates with the greatest vote totals would be elected to the city council. No state or federal statutes are applicable to the resolution of this suit.
Twenty percent of the residents of Green City are members of minority racial groups. These residents are evenly distributed among the many different residential areas of the city. The five city council members of Green City are elected from five single-member electoral districts that are nearly equally populated. No candidate has ever been elected to the city council who was a member of a minority racial group.
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The Thirteenth Amendment provides that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States.
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that «no state shall make or enforce any law which shall. .. deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. .. .» The Fourteenth Amendment applies only if there is action by a state or local government, government officer, or private individual whose behavior meets the requirements for state action. One of the major functions of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause is to make most of the protections of the Bill of Rights — the first ten amendments — applicable to the states.
The Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying their citizens the privileges and immunities of national citizenship, such as the right to petition Congress for redress of grievances, the right to vote for federal officers, the right to enter public lands, the right to interstate travel, and any other right flowing from the distinct relation of a citizen to the U.S. government.
D is correct. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits both states and the federal government from denying any citizen the right to vote on account of race or color. In this case, the claim has been brought by members of minority racial groups, arguing that the current election system diminishes the ability of voters who are members of minority racial groups to affect the outcome of the city elections. Therefore, the most obvious basis for the claim is the Fifteenth Amendment because the plaintiffs are claiming the right of minority groups to vote is being inhibited by the current system.
A is incorrect. The Thirteenth Amendment states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the U.S. This is not an obvious basis for the plaintiffs' claim because it is wholly unrelated to the right to vote, unlike the Fifteenth Amendment, as explained above.
B is incorrect. The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause protects citizens from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Even though the Fourteenth Amendment does seek to remedy racial inequalities, it is not the most obvious basis for the claim here because it is not explicitly about the right to vote.
C is incorrect. Similar to the reasoning above, the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not provide the strongest basis for recovery. This is because the Fourteenth Amendment, although protective of citizens' rights against violations by the states, is not directed at the right to vote.