Shelley Rationale Β·Relied on Fourteenth Amendment
Specifically, equal protection under the law for all U.S. citizens. But that only applied to state actors, not individuals. And racial covenants were private contracts.
The Shelly decision argues that while the contracts are between private actors, the enforcement of them is state action and therefore unconstitutional.
Dissolves the distinction between state and private action. Every private contract assumes state enforcement. According to Shelley, every private contract must conform to constitutional standards.
SCOTUS and lower courts recognize this flaw and they don't even apply Shelleyβs rationale. The do the opposite: they enforce private agreements that would violate constitutional rights, e.g., the right to free speech.
The actual problem were the racially restrictive covenants themselves, which Shelley somehow concluded were legal.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
1.
The primary purpose of the βββββββ ββ ββ
Question Type
Implied
Purpose of passage
The primary purpose of the passage is to criticize the legal rationale of the Shelley v. Kraemer decision. See the end of P1 where the author states this criticism directly: βthe stated legal rationale for the Shelley decision has nevertheless proven to be problematic.β The rest of the passage supports this point.
a
question the reasoning ββββββ β ββββββββββ ββββββββ ββββββββ
This best captures the purpose, which is to criticize the legal rationale of Shelley v. Kraemer.
b
draw a distinction βββββββ βββββββ ββββββ βββ βββββ ββββββ
The issue of a distinction between private and state action is brought up as part of a broader criticism of Shelley v. Kraemer. Itβs not the purpose of the whole passage.
c
defend the way ββ βββββ ββββββββ βββ ββββββ ββββ βββββββββββββ βββββββββ β ββββββββββ ββββββββ ββββββββ
The author doesnβt defend any traditional explanation of Shelley v. Kraemer; the author criticizes the decision.
d
highlight the shortcomings ββ βββ ββββ ββββββββββββ
The purpose isnβt to criticize the U.S. Constitution. The purpose concerns a specific judicial decision, Shelley v. Kraemer.
The author doesnβt try to extend the rationale of Shelley v. Kraemer to other cases. The author mentions the idea of extending the rationale as part of an argument that the failure of courts to extend the rationale to other cases is evidence Shelley v. Kraemer is flawed.
Difficulty
92% of people who answer get this correct
This is a slightly challenging question.
It is somewhat easier than other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%131
139
75%147
Analysis
Implied
Purpose of passage
Critique or debate
Law
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
92%
161
b
3%
146
c
1%
153
d
3%
152
e
2%
153
Question history
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