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 Shelley’s 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
2.
An answer to which one ██ ███ █████████ █████████ █████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ██████████ █ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████
Question Type
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
We should get clear on the meaning of “state action” before going to the answers. The previous lines indicate that there’s a distinction between “state actors” and “individuals.” In addition, the reasoning of the court in Shelley v. Kraemer is described later in P2. That reasoning relies on the idea that certain actions can be “attributed” to the state. So the meaning of “state action” relates to which entity we can attribute an action to. Can we say that the state performed the action, as opposed to an individual?
a
What range of ██████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████
No aspect of the definition of “state action” involves the potential effects of the action.
7%
b
To what agent ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████████
This is relevant to whether an action is a “state action.” If we can ascribe (attribute) the performance of an action to the state, then it’s a state action.
77%
c
What principle or ██████████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████
No aspect of the definition of “state action” involves the principles that govern the action. The court in Shelley v. Kraemer, for example, didn’t ask why the action was done in order to determine whether it was a state action.
13%
d
In what ways ███ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ███████
No aspect of the definition of “state action” involves the potential effects of the action.
2%
e
What motivations can ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████████ ███ ███████
No aspect of the definition of “state action” involves the motivations underlying the action. The court in Shelley v. Kraemer, for example, didn’t ask why the action was done in order to determine whether it was a state action.
1%
Difficulty
77% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is similar in difficulty to other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%141
149
75%157
Analysis
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Stems that ask us to interpret the meaning of a word, phrase, or idea given the context in which it appears.
An umbrella tag marking questions that test our understanding of the passage's overall structure (e.g. Main point, Purpose of paragraph, Meaning in context, Describe organization).
Critique or debate passages contain multiple points of view on a particular subject. Sometimes the author takes sides and participates in the critique or debate, other times the author merely reports the debate.
