Texas v. Johnson

Texas v. Johnson

Year:Decided on June,21,1989

Results:4 votes Texas, 5 votes against, in favor of Johnson

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech under the 1st amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It held that Johnson's burning of the flag was protected under the 1st amendment.It also deemed laws prohibiting flag burning were in fact unconstitutional.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Brennan wrote, "After publicly burning an American flag as a means of political protest, Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of desecrating a flag in violation of Texas law. This case presents the question whether his conviction is consistent with the First Amendment. We hold that it is not."

Dissent:They argued that the flag has represent us as a nation for over 200 years, and for someone to burn it is disrespect towards our nation.This disrespect could cause a disruption in the public peace, which would be a violation of the 1st amendment.

6 Word Summary:Flag Burning laws struck down, national

Thompson v. Oklahoma

Thompson v. Oklahoma

Year:Decided on June,29,1988

Results:5 votes Thompson, 4 votes against, in favor of Thompson

Constitutional Issue:Protection from cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It held that the execution of a 15 year old did in fact qualified as cruel and unusual punishment.Also stated that the execution of a person under the age of 16 is unconstitutional.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Stevens wrote, "The authors of the Eighth Amendment drafted a categorical prohibition against the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments, but they made no attempt to define the contours of that category. They delegated that task to future generations of judges who have been guided by the 'evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.'"

Dissent:They argued that this was no ordinary criminal, Thompson was a repeated offender of the law.So he knew perfectly what he was doing even if we was 15 years old.

6 Word Summary: under age 15, can't be sentenced death

Tinker v. Des Moines

Tinker v. Des Moines

Year:Decided on February,24,1969

Results:7 votes Tinker, 2 votes against, in favor of Tinker.

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech under the 1st amendment.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It have all students the right to symbolic speech as long as it does not disrupt the learning process.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Flores wrote, "School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are 'persons' under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State."

Dissent:Justice Black argued that disruptive "symbolic speech" wasn't protected under the 1st amendment.He also said "I have never believed that any person has a right to give speeches or engage in demonstrations where he pleases and when he pleases."

6 Word Summary:Students given right to symbolic speech

Sheppard v. Maxwell

Sheppard v. Maxwell

Year:Decided on June,6,1966

Results:8 votes Sheppard, 1 votes against. In favor of Sheppard

Constitutional Issue:The 6th amendment, the right to a fair and speedy trial

Significance Its set up a new standard for preventing pre-judicial trials being interfered by the media,

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Clark wrote, “While we cannot say that Sheppard was denied due process by the judge’s refusal to take precautions against the influence of pretrial publicity alone, the court’s later rulings must be considered against the setting in which the trial held. In light of this background, we believe that the arrangements made by the judge with the news media caused Sheppard to be deprived of that ‘Judicial serenity and calm to which [he] was entitled.”

Dissent:Justice Black argued this problem would have easily been controlled the court, cause it is them how decides how the case is subjected by the media

6 Word Summary:New Standard for keeping media out

Schkenk v. US

Schenk v. US

Year:Decided on March,3,1919

Results:0 votes Schenck, 9 votes against, in favor of US

Constitutional Issue:The Espionage act of 1917, and the free speech clause of the 1st amendment.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:Held that Schenck was not protected in this situation.They said, "The character of every act depends on the circumstances," it established the "Clear and present danger" test.

Quote form Majority Opinion:Justice Holmes wrote this famous quote, "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."

Dissent:There was none

6 Word Summary:Clear and present danger test established

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade

Year:Decided on January,22 1973

Results:7 votes Roe, 2 votes against, in favor of Roe

Constitutional Issue:The right to privacy under the 9th amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It held that a woman's right to have an abortion is well within there rights to privacy. This gave women power to have an abortion within the first trimester for any reason.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Blackum wrote, "This Texas federal appeal and its Georgia companion, Doe v. Bolton, post, p. 179, present constitutional challenges to state criminal abortion legislation. The Texas statutes under attack here are typical of those that have been in effect in many States for approximately a century. The Georgia statutes, in contrast, have a modern cast, and are a legislative product that, to an extent at least, obviously reflects the influences of recent attitudinal change, of advancing medical knowledge and techniques, and of new thinking about an old issue."

Dissent:They argued that no women should ever consider aborting a baby cause she is carrying life in her stomach.

6 Word Summary:Women gain abortion rights, first trimester

 

Reno v. ACLU

Reno v. ACLU

Year:Decided on June,26,1997

Results:0 votes Reno, 9 votes against,in favor of ACLU

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech, press, and assembly under the 1st amendment.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It held that the Communication Deceny Act of 1996 did in fact violate our 1st amendment freedoms.Mainly, cause of the vagueness in their definitions of the types of internet communications which they criminalized

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Stevens wrote, "We are persuaded that the CDA lacks the precision that the First Amendment requires when a statute regulates the content of speech. In order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another. That burden on adult speech is unacceptable if less restrictive alternatives would be at least as effective in achieving the legitimate purpose that the statute was enacted to serve."

Dissent:They argued that they did not need to block potential harmful speech from kids, but rather create a "Adult Zone" on the internet were kids couldn't access it. Also they would have invalidated a narrower portion of the two CDA provisions under review

6 Word Summary:Communication Act unconstitutional cause of vagueness.

Mapp v. Ohio

Mapp v. Ohio

Year:Decided on June,19,1961

Results:6 votes Mapp, 3 votes against, in favor of Mapp

Constitutional Issue:The 4th amendment, protection from unreasonable search and seizure

Significance:The court stated that "all evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is, by the 4th amendment, inadmissible in a state court."It Basically said you can't us evidence obtained illegally in court, this help determine how to apply the Exclusionary rule

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Clark wrote the opinion, "Appellant stands convicted of knowingly having had in her possession and under her control certain lewd and lascivious books, pictures, and photographs in violation of § 2905.34 of Ohio's Revised Code. [n1] As officially stated in the syllabus to its opinion, the Supreme Court of Ohio found that her conviction was valid though "based primarily upon the introduction in evidence of lewd and lascivious books and pictures unlawfully seized during an unlawful search of defendant's home. . . ."

Dissent: Justice Harlan wrote "In overruling the Wolf case, the Court, in my opinion, has forgotten the sense of judicial restraint which, with due regard for stare decisis, is one element that should enter into deciding whether a past decision of this Court should be overruled. Apart from that, I also believe that the Wolf rule represents sounder Constitutional doctrine than the new rule which now replaces it."

6 Word Summary:Illegally obtained evidence can't be used

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Year:Decided on June,28,1971

Results:8 votes Lemon,0 votes against, in favor of Lemon

Constitutional Issue:The "Establishment Clause" under the 1st amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It established the "Lemon Test," which is a 3 ruled test to determine if a statute violated the "Establishment Clause"

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Burger wrote the majority opinion and it said "There are three criteria that should be used to assess legislation: "First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances or inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster and excessive government Entanglement with religion." The two statutes in question violate the third of these criteria. The teachers whose salaries are being partially paid by the State are religious agents who work under the control of religious officials. There is an inherent conflict in this situation of which the state should remain clear. To ensure that teachers play a non-ideological role would require the state to become entangled with the church. Allowing this relationship could lead to political problems in areas in which a large number of students attend religious schools"

Dissent:There was none

6 Word Summary:Lemon test established by the court

New Jersey v. TLO

New Jersey v. TLO

Year:Decided on January,15,1985

Results:6 votes New Jersey, 3 votes against, in favor of New Jersey

Constitutional Issue:The issue involved protection from unreasonable search and seizure under the 4th amendment. TLO sued for this cause she believed they violate her rights to privacy.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:The significance was it gave the school more power to go through student stuff if and only if they have a "probable cause."

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice White wrote"We granted certiorari in this case to examine the appropriateness of the exclusionary rule as a remedy for searches carried out in violation of the Fourth Amendment by public school authorities. Our consideration of the proper application of the Fourth Amendment to the public schools, however, has led us to conclude that the search that gave rise to the case now before us did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, we here address only the questions of the proper standard for assessing the legality of searches conducted by public school officials and the application of that standard to the facts of this case."

Dissent:Justice Brennan believed that this new standard developed cause of this case was wrong, mainly because it gave "porable cause" a whole new meaning. Also in the future this new meaning would misapplied protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

6 Word Summary:"probable cause" given a new meaning

NY Times v. US

NY Times v. US

Year:Decided on June,30,1971

Results:6 votes NY Times, 3 votes against, in favor of NY Times

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech,press,and assembly under the 1st amendment.

Significance:Because there was a lack of evidence and Nixon couldn't prove that the "Pentagon Papers" were truly a threat to nation security, the court deemed that US couldn't exercise prior restraint on NY Times.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Black wrote, "In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."

Dissent:Justice Burger argued that the NY Times should have told the possible problem that would occur with the Government prior to publication of the material.

6 Word Summary:Prior restraint not held, lacking evidence

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Year:Decided on June,29,1992

Results:5 votes PPH, 4 votes against, in favor of Planned Parenthood

Constitutional Issue:The "Due Process" clause under the 5th amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:The court created a new standard to determine if an abortion law is constitutional.The new standard asks whether a state abortion regulation has the purpose or effect of imposing an "undue burden," which is defined as a "substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability."

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice O'Connor, Kenndey, and Scouts and wrote, "Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt. Yet 19 years after our holding that the Constitution protects a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy in its early stages, Roe v. Wade (1973), that definition of liberty is still questioned. Joining the respondents as amicus curiae, the United States, as it has done in five other cases in the last decade, again asks us to overrule Roe."

Dissent:They argued that the court decisions was pointless cause Roe v. Wade case was over and already created a perfect standard.

6 Word Summary:New abortion standard formed to help

Miranda v. Arizona

Miranda v. Arizona

Year:Decided on June,13,1966

Results:5 votes Miranda, 4 votes against, in favor of Miranda

Constitutional Issue:The issue was that Miranda was not read his rights and said that was a violation of the 5th amendment.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It established our Miranda rights which must be read to us when we are arrested.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Warren wrote, " person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in court; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him."

Dissent:They argued that the constitution never mentioned that we must be told our rights, directly or indirectly.So they believe there was no valid argument according to Justice White


Word Summary:Rights must be read to arrested

Hazelwood v. Kurlmeier

Hazelwood v. Kurlmeier

Year:Decided on January,13,1988

Results:5 votes Hazelwood, 3 votes against, in favor of Hazelwood

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech,press,and assembly under the 1st amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It gave the school power to regulate speech and if was appropriate, also limited the students 1st amendment freedom when at school

Quote from the Majority Opinion:Justice White wrote that "A school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor similar speech outside the school. ... (Judicial action to protect students' rights is justified) only when the decision to censor a school-sponsored publication, theatrical production or other vehicle of student expression has no valid educational purpose."

Dissent:Justice Brennan wrote the dissenting opinion and it said "The young men and women of Hazelwood East expected a civics lesson, but not the one the Court teaches them today...Such unthinking contempt for individual rights is intolerable from any state official. It is particularly insidious from (a school principal) to whom the public entrusts the task of inculcating in its youth an appreciation for the cherished democratic liberties that our constitution guarantees."

6 Word Summary:School gains power to limit students freedoms

    

Gideon v. Wainwirght

Gideon v. Wainwright

Year:Decided on March,18,1963

Results:9 votes Gideon, 0 votes against, in favor of Gideon

Constitutional Issue:Right to counsel

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It gave poor defendant the right to counsel even if couldn't afford one through the 6th amendment.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Black wrote,"Reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our … system of criminal justice, any person hailed into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided."

Dissent:There was none

6 Word Summary:Right to counsel extended to poor


   

California v. Greenwood

California v. Greenwood

Year:Decided on May,16,1988

Results:6 votes for California, 2 votes against. In favor of California

Constitutional Issue:The 4th amendment, protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:The court stated that garbage is not protected by the 4th amendment, cause there was no reasonable expectation of privacy for trash on public streets.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice White wrote that “An expectation of privacy does not give rise to Fourth Amendment protection, however, unless society is prepared to accept that expectation as objectively reasonable”.He went on and wrote that “It is common knowledge that plastic garbage bags left on or at the side of a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public."

Dissent:Justice Marshall and Bennan wrote what while the trash was acessable to anyone from the public doesn't mean there wasn't an expectation of privacy from Greenwood.Mostly cause people have always expected some from of privacy from our homes to the trash.

6 Word Summary:Garbage deemed not protected by 4th amendment

Engel v. Vitale

Engel v. Vitale

Year:Decided on June,25,1962

Results:6 votes for Engel, 1 votes against, in favor of Engel

Constitutional Issue:"Establishment clause" under the 1st amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:The government established that states can not permit any official religious practices cause it is a violation of the "Establishment Clause" under the 1st amendment.

Quote from Majority Opinion: Justice Black said that "Amendment's prohibition against governmental establishment of religion, as reinforced by the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, government in this country, be it state or federal, is without power to prescribe by law any particular form of prayer which is to be used as an official prayer in carrying on any program of governmentally sponsored religious activity"

Dissent:Justice Stewart wrote that the court couldn't formally prove that New York had actually violated the "Establishment Clause."Also that they had misapplied the clause and he couldn't understand how letting one pray violated this clause


6 Word Summary:Religious practice in school deemed unconstitutional

Cruzan v. Missouri

Cruzan v. Missouri

Year:Decided on June,25,1990

Results:4 votes Cruzan, 5 votes against, in favor of Missouri

Constitutional Issue:Due process clause under 14th amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:The court created a new standard that stated people have the right to refuse medical treatment under the Due Process Clause. Since there was no "clear and convincing evidence" of what Nancy Cruzan wanted, the Court upheld the state's policy.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Rehnquist "Petitioner Nancy Beth Cruzan was rendered incompetent as a result of severe injuries sustained during an automobile accident. Co-petitioners Lester and Joyce Cruzan, Nancy's parents and co-guardians, sought a court order directing the withdrawal of their daughter's artificial feeding and hydration equipment after it became apparent that she had virtually no chance of recovering her cognitive faculties. The Supreme Court of Missouri held that because there was no clear and convincing evidence of Nancy's desire to have life-sustaining treatment withdrawn under such circumstances, her parents lacked authority to effectuate such a request."

Dissent:Justice Brennan wrote that while technology has come far and that todays technology can sustain life some people don't want this at all and would rather die naturally.

6 Word Summary:No clear and convincing evidence desire

Bethel v. Fraser

Bethel v. Fraser

Year:Decided on July,7,1986

Results:7 votes Bethel, 2 votes against, in favor of Bethel

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech, press, and assembly under the 1st amendment

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:This gave all schools the power to limit our 1st amendment freedoms, when we are at school.

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court."We granted certiorari to decide whether the First Amendment prevents a school district from disciplining a high school student for giving a lewd speech at a school assembly"

Dissent:Justice Steven gave the dissenting opinion. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

6 Word Summary:School given power to limit 1st amendment freedom