Court Cases

STAAR

Brown v. Board of Education Topeka board of education denied Linda Brown admittance to an all white school close to her house. Thurgood Marshall argued that a separate but equal violated equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Earl Warren decided separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.

Mendez v. Westminster Federal court case that challenged racial segregation in California schools. In its ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals held that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional

Hernandez v. Texas When a Texas jury convicted this person of murder, lawyers from the American GI Forum and the League of United Latin-American Citizens appealed on the grounds that persons of Mexican origin had been routinely excluded from jury service. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Mexican Americans constituted a distinct group and that their systematic exclusion from juries violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

Delgado v. Bastrop ISD 1947 School in Texas didn’t allow a 1st grader of Mexican decent to enroll at an all-white school. Before this trial happened a Texas judge had ended segregation in schools beyond the first grade. Served as a precedent in the Brown v. Board of Ed case.

Edgewood ISD v. Kirby Grievance was that the current method of funding public schools discriminated unfairly against poor students and denied equal opportunity in an "increasingly complex and technological society” Legislature is ordered to implement equitable funding by the 1990-1991 school year After four special sessions, the Legislature approves $528 million to aid poorer districts Robin Hood - (May 28, 1993) multi-option plan for balancing school finances. Signed by Gov. Ann Richards Upheld in 1995 by TX Supreme Court

Sweatt v. Painter ruled that blacks must be allowed to attend integrated law schools in OK and TX

Plessy v. Ferguson The court case in which the Supreme Court validated the South's segregationist social order Ruled that "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional under the "equal protection" clause in the Fourteenth Amendment In reality the quality of African American life was grotesquely unequal to that of whites

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) *Students' Right to Free Speech Students suspended from school for wearing anti-Vietnam war arm bands. Court ruled that 'students do not shed their constitutional rights (of free speech/expression) at the school gates’

Wisconsin v. Yoder The Court ruled that Wisconsin could not require Amish parents to send their children to public school beyond the eighth grade because it would violate long-held religious beliefs.

White v. Regester Texas redistricting created districts that lumped Hispanics and African American neighborhoods together in such a way that they could not elect representation. SCOTUS ruled Texas cannot discriminate through intentional districting to limit minority representation.

Court Cases

APUSH

Bakke v. University of California Imposed limitations on affirmative action to ensure that providing greater opportunities for minorities did not come at the expense of the rights of the majority. Affirmative action was unfair if it lead to reverse discrimination. The case involved the University of Calif., Davis, Medical School and Allan Bakke, a white applicant who was rejected twice even though there were minority applicants admitted with significantly lower scores than his. A closely divided Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of rigid quotas was not permissible.

McCulloch v. Maryland Upheld the right of Congress to create a Bank of the United States, ruling that it was a power implied but not enumerated by the Constitution. The case is significant because it advanced the doctrine of implied powers, or a loose construction of the Constitution. The Court, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, would sanction laws reflecting "the letter and spirit" of the Constitution.

Miranda v. Arizona Was another case that helped define the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. At the center of the case was Ernesto Miranda, who had confessed to a crime during police questioning without knowing he had a right to have an attorney present. Based on his confession, Miranda was convicted. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that criminal suspects must be warned of their rights before they are questioned by police. These rights are: the right to remain silent, to have an attorney present, and, if the suspect cannot afford an attorney, to have one appointed by the state. The police must also warn suspects that any statements they make can be used against them in court. Miranda was retried without the confession and convicted.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey The constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state regulations regarding abortion were challenged. The Court's plurality opinion upheld the constitutional right to have an abortion but lowered the standard for analyzing restrictions of that right, invalidating one regulation but upholding the others.