Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

In 1954 in Topeka, Kansas a group of activists and lawyers in the NAACP decided to try to overturn Plessy V. Ferguson. They combined 4 different cases that all had to do with black and white integration in schools. A little black girl named Linda Brown had to walk miles to get to her all black school and lived a block away from the all white school. She was part of a test case that was taken to the Supreme Court. They argued that the schools were not "separate but equal" facilities and in the end won the case. the court ruled unanimously in their favor and ended segregation in schools. I agree with the courts decision. The fact that schools weren't integrated al the way until 1954 is astounding. America is a great country but we definitely have some bad spots in our history, and segregation is one of them. This decision, although it took a while to go into effect, overturned segregation and was monumental in the American Civil Rights movement.

Gideon V. Wainwright

In Florida in 1963, Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for breaking into a pool hall with the intent to burglarize it. He wanted a court appointed attorney, but was refused because the crime was not considered a capital offense. Gideon, under his own defense, pleaded not guilty but was found guilty. Later, from prison, Gideon asked to appeal his case with a petition called "in forma pauperis" and the court accepted the appeal and appointed him an attorney. Gideon took the case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of Gideon and overturned the previous decision Betts V. Brady. I agree with this decision because everyone has the right to an attorney. The court said that even though the defense may be able to prepare a perfect argument, their right to an attorney is sustained. This case was monumental in establishing the right to an attorney and the 14th Amendment.


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Miranda V. Arizona

The case debated in Miranda V. Arizona involved various cases that culminated under the same idea. The title case though, involved a man named Ernesto Miranda who had been arrested in Arizona under charges of rape and kidnapping. He was not informed of his right to remain silent or his right to an attorney. After a long period of interrogation, Miranda signed a confession and was found guilty. Miranda took his case to the Supreme Court citing the 5th Amendment saying that, "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." The Chief Justice Earl Warren recognized the fact that people go through tremendous psychological pressure in the interrogation room, and that this could affect the rational judgement of a person under that amount of pressure. Warren also explained that Miranda must be informed of all of his rights and in fat, because he was not the case had to be thrown out. The court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of Miranda. I agree with the court on this decision. A person must be made known their rights no matter how bad of a crime they have committed. As we have seen this year, a some people admit t crimes they haven't even committed because of the pressure of interrogation. This case was very important in establishing people's rights and stabilizing the 5th Amendment.


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Regents of the University of California V. Bakke

In 1978 Alan Bakke, a white student applying to the medical school of UC Davis, was rejected admission. He was not admitted to the school even though he had better test scores than the minority students applying. The minority students had a different criteria for admission than white students. After getting rejected from the medical school, Bakke sued the college. He took the case to the Supreme Court citing a violation of the 14th Amendment with equal protection under the law. The court sided with Bakke in a 5 to 4 decision. They ruled that the separate criteria was a violation of the 14th Amendment. I think the court made the right decision in this case. Just because someone is of a different ethnicity doesn't mean they should be held at different standards. That seems racist in itself to think that a person of color would be held at a lower standard and be more easily admitted to a college. This decision was the predecessor to affirmative action which is being heavily debated now.


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Miller V. California

A man named Miller sent out a large quantity of "adult" books and films to the public in 1973. Miller was prosecuted for violating California's obscenity laws, so he appealed the case. He argued that this went against the 1st Amendment and the right to free speech and freedom of the press. The Supreme Court ruled against Miller with a vote of 5 to 4. They ruled that the work lacked "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." I think the court made a good decision in Miller V. California. Although I do believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press, I think Miller took it to an extreme. He sent porn to people who didn't ask for it, and forced obscene material on them. He had no right to invade their privacy like he did.

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Plessy Vs Ferguson

A law in Louisiana in 1890 read that railroads had to provide "separate but equal" accommodations for white and colored people. A man named Homer Plessy decided to test this law. Plessy was 1/8th black and tried to sit in the white section of the train on a trip from New Orleans to Covington. Plessy was ordered to move but he refused and was arrested and put in jail by a local judge named Ferguson. Plessy took the case to the Supreme Court claiming that it was a violation of the 13th Amendment. The court ruled that segregation laws were widely recognized and had to be enforced. This was the wrong decision in my opinion. This court case set the stage for segregation across the United States and wouldn't be overturned for another 60 years. The fact that people were ok with segregation is appalling, and I really think the Supreme Court got it wrong here, even if it was over 100 years ago.


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United States Vs Nixon

On June 1972, 5 men with bugging equipment were arrested in the Democratic National Convention. They were later found to have been working for CREEP or the Committee to Re-elect the President. The United States Department of Justice hired a special prosecutor to investigate what would be called the Watergate Scandal. President Nixon had been taping conversations of the Republican Party so he could help his campaign. The Federal court ruled unanimously that Nixon had to overturn the tapes when he refused.I think that the court made the right decision in this case. The President has no right to wiretap the opposing party and keep the tapes from the American people. The public has a right to know what goes on behind closed doors in the US government. Later, after the tapes were turned over, Nixon ended up resigning before he could get impeached.

http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar41.html

Roe V. Wade

In my opinion Every woman should have the right to choose to have an abortion. The court ruled 7 to 2 in favor of Roe in this case, which in my opinion is the right decision. Even if the fetus is considered a human in the later stages of pregnancy, I still think that the woman should have the right to abort it. What if the woman was raped and didn't want the baby? Or the woman couldn't take care of the baby. I think it is the woman's right to abort the fetus id the baby will not have a good life. This monumental court case made it so women could get an abortion in 46 out of 50 states, and was a big step forward socially in the United States.