Grandfather clause

Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption. Frequently, the exemption is limited; it may extend for a set period of time, or it may be lost under certain circumstances. For example, a "grandfathered power plant" might be exempt from new, more restrictive pollution laws, but those rules would apply if the plant were expanded. Often, such a provision is used as a compromise, to effect new rules without upsetting a well-established logistical or political situation. This extends the idea of a rule not being retroactively applied.

The term originated in late-19th-century legislation and constitutional amendments passed by a number of U.S. Southern states, which created new literacy and property restrictions on voting, but exempted those whose ancestors (grandfathers) had the right to vote before the Civil War. The intent and effect of such rules was to prevent poor and illiterate African American former slaves and their descendants from voting, but without denying poor and illiterate whites the right to vote. Although these original grandfather clauses were eventually ruled unconstitutional, the terms grandfather clause and grandfather remain in use, with no connotation regarding the justness of these provisions when applied in other areas.

Contents

Origin

The original grandfather clauses were contained in new state constitutions and Jim Crow laws passed from 1890 to 1910 in many of the Southern United States to prevent blacks, Mexican Americans (in Texas), and certain whites from voting.[1] Prohibitions on freedmen's voting in place before 1870 were nullified by the Fifteenth Amendment.

After conservative white Democrats took control of state legislatures again after the Compromise of 1877, they began to work to restrict the ability of blacks to vote. Paramilitary groups such as the Ku Klux Klan had intimidated blacks or barred them from the polls in numerous elections before the Redemption. The coalition of Populists and Republicans in fusion tickets in the 1890s threatened Democratic control and increased the Democrats' desire to restrict blacks from voting. Conservative whites developed statutes and passed new constitutions creating restrictive voter registration rules. Examples included imposition of poll taxes and residency and literacy tests. An exemption to such requirements was made for all persons allowed to vote before the American Civil War, and any of their descendants. The term grandfather clause arose from the fact that the laws tied the then-current generation's voting rights to those of their grandfathers. According to Black's Law Dictionary, some Southern states adopted constitutional provisions exempting from the literacy requirements descendants of those who fought in the army or navy of the United States or of the Confederate States during a time of war.

After the U.S. Supreme Court found such provisions unconstitutional in Guinn v. United States (1915), states were forced to stop using the grandfather clauses to provide exemption to literacy tests. Without the grandfather clauses, tens of thousands of poor Southern whites were disfranchised in the early 20th century. As decades passed, Southern states tended to expand the franchise for poor whites, but most blacks could not vote until after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[2] Ratification in 1964 of the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections, but some states continued to use them in state elections.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act had provisions to protect voter registration and access to elections, with federal enforcement and supervision where necessary. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that poll taxes could not be used in any elections. This secured the franchise for most citizens, and voter registration and turnout climbed dramatically in Southern states.

In spite of its origins, today the term grandfather clause does not retain any pejorative sense.

Modern examples

Law

Standards compliance

Sports

NASCAR

In NASCAR, grandfather clause protection refers to sponsorship by Alltel, Cingular, Samsung, and RadioShack for a race at Texas Motor Speedway, in reference to a prohibition established on June 19, 2003, on NASCAR sponsorships in the Nextel Cup Series. No telecommunications company's advertising is permitted at NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events under the exclusivity agreement between NASCAR and Nextel. (Samsung was prohibited because they were a technical competitor to Nextel, which used exclusively Motorola products.) All parties had been regular sponsors in NASCAR's then-Winston Cup Series since 2002. They may continue with their present sponsorships, but new sponsorships are prohibited.

After the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel, the prohibition on Samsung and RadioShack was removed, because Sprint carries Samsung products, and Sprint is sold at RadioShack. Nextel banned Motorola's primary sponsorship of Robby Gordon's #7, but Motorola can be used as an associate, so the Motorola logo could be seen on the door post of Gordon's car. The series was renamed the Sprint Cup Series in 2008, because Sprint is expected to phase-out the Nextel brand entirely by 2010.

The sponsorship issue came up after AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth in 2006. This gave AT&T 100% ownership of Cingular, and the company immediately announced the phaseout of the Cingular brand in favor of AT&T for wireless service. Sprint and NASCAR prohibited AT&T from remaining as a sponsor for Jeff Burton, even though SBC (which bought its former parent company in 2005 and adopted the more-recognizable AT&T name as part of the deal) owned 60% of Cingular before the BellSouth deal. A compromise was later reached that allowed AT&T to remain as a sponsor through the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, leaving Richard Childress Racing time to find a new sponsor for 2009.[8]

The Alltel sponsorship was phased out upon the closing of the deal by Cellco Partners (Verizon and Vodafone) to acquire Alltel from TPG Capital Partners and other private equity firms in January 2009. With one year remaining on the Penske Racing contract, Cellco moved the sponsorship to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where it is not prohibited, where Justin Allgaier will drive the #12 Verizon Wireless Dodge in selected races for the team.[9] The sponsorship on the team's Sprint Cup car remained, but the Verizon name was not allowed to appear on the car. Instead, the team ran Penske Racing on the hood and quarter panels, while painting the car exactly like Allgaier's Nationwide Series car.

A similar rule is enforced in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in regards to insurance sponsorships. The two sponsors that had 2008 sponsorship contracts with Toyota teams Germain Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing – Geico and Farm Bureau Insurance, respectively – had to leave the series after 2008. Farm Bureau moved to JGR's Cup Series teams as an associate sponsor (with a handful of races as the primary sponsor on either the #11 or #20 teams. Germain Racing began racing in the Cup Series part time in 2009, and Geico moved up with them, while their Nationwide team found another sponsor.

Although NASCAR is strict on sponsors with relation to the title sponsors, other sports leagues have been more lenient. For instance, the Pittsburgh Steelers have long had sponsorship deals with Coca-Cola and locally-based PNC Financial Services despite the fact that the NFL as a whole has national sponsorship deals with Pepsi for soft drinks and Bank of America for the banking industry.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Grandfather clause". Concise Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-365960.html. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  2. ^ Glenn Feldman, The Disfranchisement Myth: Poor Whites and Suffrage Restriction in Alabama, Auburn: University of Georgia Press, 2004, p.136
  3. ^ "Michigan State University College of Law". Animallaw.info. http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/statestatutes/stusmiset.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  4. ^ "Reforming the Senate". CBC News. 2008-12-30. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/22/f-senate-reform.html. Retrieved 2010-12-21. 
  5. ^ "Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website - Craig MacTavish". Oilersheritage.com. http://www.oilersheritage.com/history/dynasty_players_craigmactavish.html. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  6. ^ By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com. "Rivera 'blessed' to wear No. 42 | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070415&content_id=1900688&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  7. ^ Press, Associated (2009-02-18). "Former Giants linebacker Brad Van Pelt dies". News.bostonherald.com. http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/football/other_nfl/view/2009_02_18_Former_Giants_linebacker_Brad_Van_Pelt_dies. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ "Cellco Partners sponsorship of the #12 NNS". Sportsbusinessdaily.com. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=sbd.preview&articleID=126996. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 

Further reading