SUPREME COURT CASES

SUPREME COURT CASES Civil Rights & Beyond

THE WARREN COURT The Warren Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States during the period when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice. Warren led a liberal majority that used judicial power in dramatic fashion, to the consternation of conservative opponents. The Warren Court expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in dramatic ways.The court was both applauded and criticized for bringing an end to racial segregation in the United States, incorporating the Bill of Rights (including it in the 14th Amendment Due Process clause), and ending officially sanctioned voluntary prayer in public schools. The period is recognized as a high point in judicial power that has receded ever since, but with a substantial continuing impact

SWEATT vs PAINTER [1950] It was a Supreme Court case that successfully challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation The case involved a black man, Heman Marion Sweatt, who was refused admission to the School of Law of the University of Texas, on the grounds that the Texas State Constitution prohibited integrated education. At the time, no law school in Texas would admit black or "Negro" students. The court ruled that the separate school failed to qualify, both because of quantitative differences in facilities and intangible factors, such as its isolation from most of the future lawyers with whom its graduates would interact

BROWN vs THE BOARD OF EDUCATION [1954] It was a landmarkUnited States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, theWarren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal

HERNANDEZ vs TEXAS [1954] The first and only Mexican-American civil-rights case heard and decided by the United States Supreme Court during the post-World War II period. In a unanimous ruling, the court held that Mexican Americans and all other racial or national groups in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling was written by Justice Earl Warren. This was the first case in which Mexican-American lawyers had appeared before the US Supreme Court.

MAPP vs OHIO [1961] Supreme Court decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures," may not be used in state law criminal prosecutions in state courts, as well as in federal criminal law prosecutions in federal courts as had previously been the law

ENGEL vs VITALE [1962] S.C. case that ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools The case was brought by a group of families of public school students in New Hyde Park, New York, who complained that the voluntary prayer written by the state board of regents to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs. The plaintiffs argued that opening the school day with such a prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution In an opinion delivered by Justice Hugo Black, the Court ruled that government-written prayers were not to be recited in public schools and were a violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Establishment Clause of the first amendment

BAKER vs CARR [1962] Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court's political question doctrine, deciding that redistricting (attempts to change the way voting districts are delineated) issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide redistricting cases. In a 6-2 ruling, the Supreme Court held that federal courts have the power to determine the constitutionality of a State's voting districts

GIDEON vs WAINWRIGHT [1963] The Supreme Court unanimously ruled thatstates are required under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys

REYNOLDS vs SIMS [1964] S.C. case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population. The case was brought on behalf of voters in Alabama, but the decision affected both northern and southern states that had similarly failed to reapportion their legislatures in keeping with changes in state population The eight justices who struck down state senate inequality based their decision on the principle of "one person, one vote".

MIRANDA vs ARIZONA [1966] It was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court. In a 5-4 majority, the Court held that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trial only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them

TINKER vs DES MOINES [1969] It was a decision by the United States Supreme Court thatdefined the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools. TheTinker test is still used by courts today to determine whether a school's disciplinary actions violate students' First Amendment rights. The court's 7-2 decision held that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom. The court observed, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate

SWANN vs CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG [1972] S.C. case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools.The Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in school

ROE vs WADE [1973] Supreme Court ruled on the issue of abortion. It was decided simultaneously with a companion case, Doe v. Bolton. The Court ruled 7–2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that this right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting women's health and protecting the potentiality of human life

Regents of the University of California vs Bakke[1978] Allan P. Bakke, an engineer and former United States Marine Corps officer, sought admission to medical school, but was rejected for admission by several, in part because, in his early thirties, he was considered too old. After twice being rejected by the University of California, Davis, he brought suit in state court. The California Supreme Court struck down the program as violative of the rights of white applicants and ordered Bakke admitted. S.C. ruled U.C. Davis's program went too far for a majority of justices, and it was struck down and Bakke admitted. The practical effect of Bakke was that most affirmative action programs continued without change

NEW JERSEY vs T.L.O [1985] U.S. Supreme Court ruled in New Jersey v. T.L.O., holding that public school administrators can search a student’s belongings if they have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity The case originated in Piscataway, New Jersey, where, in 1980, a teacher at the local public high school stumbled upon two girls smoking in a bathroom. One of the girls was T.L.O., then a 14-year-old freshman. Because smoking was against school rules, the teacher brought T.L.O. and her companion to an assistant vice principal, who questioned both girls

SUPREME COURT CASES