In search of justice.Americans accept the authority of the Supreme Court--even if they don't always agree with it. Here is a summary of four major decisions. Read each case, then choose a number to indicate your rating of the Court's decision. Write your rating and the reason for it on the lines provided. Terrible! -4 -3 -2 -1 +1 +2 +3 +4 Terrific! Gibbons v. Ogden Gibbons v. Ogden, case decided in 1824 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Aaron Ogden, the plaintiff, had purchased an interest in the monopoly to operate steamboats that New York state had granted to Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston. . In the early IB2Os, America's inland waterways were filled with boats carrying goods from one port to another. Among steamboat steamboat: see steamship. steamboat or steamship Watercraft propelled by steam; more narrowly, a shallow-draft paddle-wheel steamboat widely used on rivers in the 19th century, particularly the Mississippi River and its tributaries. owners, the competition for customers was fierce. In New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State, Aaron Ogden Aaron Ogden (December 3, 1756-April 19, 1839) was a United States Senator and the 5th Governor of New Jersey. Ogden was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey (formerly Elizabethtown). sued one of his steamboat competitors, Thomas Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
Under Chief Justice John Marshall, the Court supported Gibbons. It said that his federal license was protected by Article I of the Constitution: "The Congress shall have power ... to regulate commerce ... among the ... states." No state, said Marshall, could interfere with this power. The decision spurred steamboat competition and expanded federal power, which angered some states. Rating: Reason: Plessy v. Fergusan. On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railway. Plessy, who had both black and white ancestors, sat in a coach reserved for whites. The conductor demanded that Plessy move to the coach where blacks, by state law, were forced to sit. When Plessy refused, he was jailed and taken to trial. Plessy sued the judge. He claimed that the state's segregation (separation of people based on race) policy was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment Fourteenth Amendment, addition to the U.S. Constitution, adopted 1868. The amendment comprises five sections. Section 1 Section 1 of the amendment declares that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are American citizens and citizens . This amendment guarantees "equal protection of the laws Noun 1. equal protection of the laws - a right guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and by the due-process clause of the Fifth Amendment " to every person. In 1896, by an 8-to-I vote, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Louisiana's right to establish "separate but equal" railway coaches. Rating: Reason: Brown v. Board of Education Brown v. Board of Education (of Topeka) (1954) U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. . In the early 1950s, Linda Brown walked 20 blocks to and from school each day. She could not attend the school much closer to her home because it was for whites only. Linda's father sued the Topeka, Kansas, school district for an end to the segregation within its system. In effect, he wanted to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson Plessy v. Ferguson, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. The court upheld an 1890 Louisiana statute mandating racially segregated but equal railroad carriages, ruling that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth amendment to the U.S. decision, which had permitted racial segregation. Brown's suit was based on the "equal protection" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case in 1954, along with several others on the same issue. In a 9-to-0 decision, it supported Brown's position. The Court agreed that forced segregation in public schools "generates a feeling of inferiority" among the minority group. Such segregation, said the Court, "may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." The Brown decision paved the way for the civil rights laws of the 1960s. Rating: Reason: Miranda v. Arizona Miranda v. Arizona, U.S. Supreme Court case (1966) in the area of due process of law (see Fourteenth Amendment). The decision reversed an Arizona court's conviction of Ernesto Miranda on kidnapping and rape charges. . One night in 1963, police officers in Phoenix, Arizona, arrested a man named Ernesto Miranda on a charge of abduction Abduction Balfour, David expecting inheritance, kidnapped by uncle. [Br. Lit.: Kidnapped] Bertram, Henry kidnapped at age five; taken from Scotland. [Br. Lit. (kidnapping) and rape. After several hours of questioning, Miranda confessed. Miranda was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. His lawyer then appealed the judgment, saying that his client's confession had been obtained with threats. In addition, he said, Miranda had been questioned without being told that he had the right to a lawyer. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966, combined with three others. By a 5-to-4 vote, the Court supported Miranda's claim. Chief Justice Earl Warren ordered a new trial for Miranda and set rules for evidence in criminal trials. Among them: No testimony by an accused person can be used in court unless, upon arrest, the person was advised of his or her rights to remain silent and have a lawyer present. Police officials were divided over the decision at the time, but most now support it. Rating: Reason: ANSWER KEY Skills Master 6: In Search of Justice Answers will vary. |
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