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Historical BackgroundBy the 1930s, the reign of Jim Crow had reached its apex in the South. Segregation of the races remained the norm across the region-and, indeed, across the nation. Discrimination, exacerbated by the devastating effects of the Great Depression, was particularly harsh. A new Ku Klux Klan had arisen in the 1920s,… Read more
Historical BackgroundIn the aftermath of Reconstruction, which ended in 1877, the Southern State governments again became-as they remained in the North-“white man's governments.“ The new State legislatures enacted Jim Crow laws to legally segregate the races and impose second-class citizenship upon African Americans. Enforced by criminal… Read more
Case SummaryOregon, Texas, and Idaho brought suit in the Supreme Court against the United States and Attorney General John Mitchell to challenge the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970. They claimed that only the States, and not Congress, have the authority to establish qualification rules for voters in State and local elections.The Court… Read more
Case SummaryShrink Missouri Government, a political action committee, and Zev David Fredman, a candidate for State office, sued Missouri's Attorney General, Jeremiah J. Nixon, challenging the constitutionality of a Missouri law that limited contributions to candidates for political office. The plaintiffs lost in the district court, but won… Read more
Case SummaryA. Ernest Fitzgerald claimed that he lost his employment with the Air Force because he gave testimony before Congress that was critical of his employer. He tried to add President Nixon as a defendant in his suit, but Nixon argued that a President cannot be sued for actions taken while in office. The trial and appellate court… Read more
Historical BackgroundOver the years the Supreme Court has disagreed on the limits that can be placed on the 1st Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. In 1971, the Court faced these issues again in a case brought by the New York Times. The newspaper had obtained a copy of documents known as “The Pentagon Papers“-an internal… Read more
Historical BackgroundThe Supreme Court has a long history of upholding citizens' protections against unreasonable searches and seizures-a right guaranteed by the 4th Amendment. In Weeks v. United States, 1914, the Court ruled that evidence obtained by police illegally is not admissible in federal court-a practice known as the exclusionary… Read more
Historical BackgroundWith its decisions in the cases of Mapp v. Ohio, 1961, Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963, and Escobedo v. Illinois, 1964, the Warren Court handed down the bases of what it called the “fundamentals of fairness“ standard. At both the State and federal level, the Court sent a clear signal to law enforcement and criminal justice… Read more
Case SummaryCandidate Pat Tornillo demanded that the Miami Herald print his reply to the paper's critical editorials. Under the Florida “Right to Reply“ law, The Herald asked the State court to declare the “right of reply“ law unconstitutional. The Herald won at the trial court level, but lost in the Florida Supreme Court, and then… Read more
Historical BackgroundThroughout the early years of the Republic, the power of the Federal Government had continued to grow. By the second decade of the 19th century, cases pitting advocates of States' rights against those arguing for the supremacy of the National Government came frequently before the Court.By the late 1810s, financial… Read more
Historical BackgroundThe Constitution called for the creation of a federal government with the following three branches, or parts: legislative, executive, and judiciary. Article I created Congress, the legislative, or lawmaking, body. Article II established the office of the President, who executes, or carries out, the laws. Article III… Read more
Historical BackgroundThe Warren Court left an unprecedented legacy of judicial activism in the area of civil rights law as well as in the area of civil liberties-specifically, the rights of the accused as addressed in Amendments 4 through 8. In the period from 1961 to 1969, the Warren Court examined almost every aspect of the criminal… Read more
Case SummaryFred Korematsu refused to obey the wartime order to leave his home and report to a relocation camp for Japanese Americans. He was arrested and convicted. After losing in the Court of Appeals, he appealed to the United States Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the deportation order.The Court's DecisionThe… Read more
Case SummaryTwo Florida students who were paddled in school brought suit in federal court arguing that the paddling was “cruel and unusual punishment“ and that students should have a right to be heard before physical punishment is given. They lost in the trial court and at the Court of Appeals, and then appealed to the Supreme Court.The… Read more
Case SummaryAt his trial for unlawful possession of a weapon, William Wardlow argued that the police did not have grounds to stop him. The trial court rejected this argument and he was convicted. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction. The United States Supreme Court accepted the case for review.The Court's DecisionIn a 5-4… Read more
Case SummaryProfessor Ronald Hutchinson sued Senator William Proxmire for defamation after the Senator gave a “Golden Fleece“ award to the agencies that funded the professor's research.The trial and appeals courts ruled that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 6), as well as the First Amendment, protected… Read more
Case SummaryThe Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited places of “public accommodation“ from discrimination based on customers' race, sex, color, religion, or national origin. The Heart of Atlanta Motel challenged the constitutionality of this provision and, after losing before a three-judge federal court, appealed to the Supreme Court.The… Read more
Case SummaryJohn Kelly and others sued when State and local officials terminated their welfare benefits without having given them prior notice and an opportunity to be heard. The plaintiffs won at trial, and the Commissioner of Social Services of the City of New York appealed to the Supreme Court.The Court's DecisionThe Supreme Court ruled… Read more
Historical BackgroundThe McCulloch v. Maryland decision in 1819 fanned the flames of controversy over States' rights and national supremacy. By 1824, Chief Justice John Marshall had reached the zenith of his historic tenure on the Court and was perfectly willing to consider the most difficult areas of law.As the American frontier moved… Read more
Case SummaryA federal court ruled that Flast and the other plaintiffs did not have standing as taxpayers to challenge the use of federal funds for religious schools. “Standing“ is a legal requirement under which a person can only file suit if he or she has a personal stake in the outcome of the case. The plaintiffs then appealed to the… Read more
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