Court Decisions
Marbury v. Madison (1803) Background:Outgoing President John Adams appoints several judges the night before leaving office. Incoming President Thomas Jefferson is angered by the appointments and orders Secretary of State James Madison to hold up any commissions undelivered. William Marbury, appointee as justice of the peace in Washington DC sues in Supreme Court.
Marbury v. Madison (1803) Decision: Unanimous, declared Judiciary Act violates Article III section 2, therefore unconstitutional. Marbury loses, having based case on unconstitutional law Impact: Establishes judicial review
Plessy v. Furgeson (1896) Background: Herman Plessy sues over Louisiana State law requiring segregation of African-Americans and whites in separate rail cars. Plessy argues his rights violated by not receiving equal protection of the laws guaranteed by 14 th amendment.
Plessy v. Furgeson (1896) Decision: Court upheld Louisiana law stating that 14 th amendment rights not violated as long as separate but equal facilities. Impact: Established the separate but equal doctrine which became justification for segregation of schools, and public and private facilities. Overturned by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Background: A 10-year-old Topeka girl, Linda Brown, was not permitted to attend her neighborhood school because she was an African-American. Court heard arguments about whether segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Decision: Court found that segregation was a violation of Equal Protection Clause. Impact: Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and established the precedent for desegregating schools, transportation, hotels, restaurants, etc.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Background: In 1961 a Florida court found Clarence Earl Gideon guilty of breaking and entering and sentenced him to five years in prison. Gideon appealed to the Supreme Court on the basis that he had been denied a lawyer during his trial ( a right guaranteed by the 6 th amendment) due to Florida s law of only providing an attorney in capital cases.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Decision: The Court granted Gideon a new trial. Impact: Gideon was found not-guilty with the help of a court-appointed attorney. The Gideon Rule upheld the 6 th amendment right of the poor to receive legal counsel in any trial involving a felony.
Mapp v. Ohio (1962) Background: Cleveland police raided Dollree Mapp s home without a warrant and found obscene materials. She appealed her conviction saying that the 4 th and 14 th amendments protected her against improper police behavior.
Mapp v. Ohio (1962) Decision: The Court ruled in her favor, extending the exclusionary rule to State courts, saying that the prohibition against illegal search and seizure would be meaningless unless evidence obtained in such searches was excluded. Impact: Prior to this decision, some States had laws permitted use of illegal evidence in trials.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeirer (1988) Background: The principal of Hazelwood East High School removed two articles from the upcoming student newspaper, deeming their content inappropriate, personal, sensitive, and unsuitable for student readers. Several students sued the school district, claiming that their first amendment rights had been violated.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeirer (1988) Decision: The Court held that principal s actions were appropriate, stating that a school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor such material outside the school. Impact: Established the school s full control over student activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns
New Jersey v. TLO (1985) Background: A high school student is caught smoking in the rest room. A school official searches her purse and finds evidence of drug paraphernalia and of selling drugs. The student is convicted and sues on the basis of illegal search and seizure asking that the evidence be excluded.
New Jersey v. TLO (1985) Decision: The Court finds that a school official is not under the same obligation regarding search and seizure as a police officer but is acting in loco parentis (in place of parents). School has legitimate need to maintain an environment in which learning can take place. Impact: Established reasonable suspicion rule for school searches instead of probably cause required in wider society.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Background: A small group of students wear black armbands to protest the war in Vietnam. The students are suspended from the high school.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Decision: Found for the students. Stated that we do not lose all of our civil liberties when we enter the school gate. Impact: Established that students have first amendment rights as long as they do not disrupt the school or education as they are exercising it.
Texas v. Johnson (1989) Background: Johnson is arrested for burning a flag in an anti-reagan protest at the Republican National Convention. Appealed to the Supreme Court on the basis of 1 st Amendment rights of freedom of expression.
Texas v. Johnson (1989) Decision: Burning a flag, though offensive to many is protected by the 1 st Amendment freedom of expression Impact: Decision set off a great deal of criticism and caused Congress to pass the Flag Protection Act of 1989.
U.S. v. Eichman (1990) Background: The Flag Protection Act prohibited the desecration of a venerated object. Eichman was arrested for burning an American Flag in protest. Eichman appealed on the basis of 1 st Amendment rights of freedom of speech and expression.
U.S. v. Eichman (1990) Decision: The Court found for Eichman. The Flag Protection Act of 1989 was found to unconstitutional Impact: Reaffirmed the protection of expressions even if offensive to others. Has generated a movement for a constitutional amendment to protect the flag.
Furman v. Georgia (1972) Three different death penalty cases, including Furman, raised the question of racial imbalances in the use of the death penalty by State courts.
Furman v. Georgia (1972) Decision: The Court overturned State death penalty laws, noting that there was an apparent arbitrariness to the use of the sentence. Impact: For some time, their were no death penalties carried out in the U.S. Many states rewrote their death penalty statutes and these have generally been upheld
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Background: Bakke applied for Med School with the University of California but was turned down because other students were admitted with lower GPAs than Bakke because of affirmative action to admit minority students. Bakke claimed that he was the subject of reverse discrimination.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) Decision: The court found in favor of Bakke, invalidating the school s admission program and directed the Regents to admit Bakke. Impact: Established concept of reverse discrimination,