BrionesCivil Rights & Liberties projectAPG

You should be able to summarize from memory significant Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and the amendments especially as these interpretations have changed the meaning of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Probably the most significant are the First Amendment freedoms (of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly) and the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Some important facts:

Initially, the Bill of Rights was intended to limit the powers of the national government to prevent infringement upon individual civil liberties. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868) included guarantees that “no state shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny ... equal protection of the law.” This seems to me to explicitly apply these guarantees to the states. Nevertheless, this took some time.

Selective Incorporation is a judicial doctrine whereby, most, but not all, of the protections found in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. At the present time, only the Second, Third, and Seventh Amendments and the grand jury requirement of the Fifth Amendment have NOT been applied specifically to the states.

Mention of the term “selective incorporation” was first set forth in Palko v. Connecticut (1937). Although upholding the Connecticut murder conviction of Frank Palko, the Supreme Court established that some protections found in the Bill of Rights are absorbed into the concept of due process as provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment because they are so fundamental to our notions of liberty and justice that they cannot be denied by the states. Important examples include:

Freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion (from the 1st Amendment),

Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures (from the 4th Amendment),

Protection against self-incrimination and the right to counsel and trial by an impartial jury in a public and speedy trial (from the 5th, 6th and 7th Amendments).

Before Palko in 1937, there were cases that seem to suggest the idea of selective incorporation (that is without using that specific term). These include Gitlow v. New York (1925) and Near v. Minnesota (1931).

D. Supreme Court cases to know & love! (aka 6TH CYCLE PROJECT):

Overview: Working with partners (groups of 3-5), research the 15 BOLD court cases using the guidelines below. Your group will present one case and prepare a presentation to share with the class. You may make a video, song, poem, book, skit, or any combination thereof. Your final product will be presented to class and will be assessed on content, creativity, and neatness.

Timeline & Due dates:

April 15/16 choose groups & project leader (responsible for emailing work to ME), exchange emails, pick cases you are personally responsible for. Weekend hw: research 2 of your cases & email to project leader

April 20th project leader email your group’s cases (2 per person) & cc ALL group members; look for my email reply confirming receipt

April 21/22 Groups sign up (in class) for case to present.

April 23/24 40 minutes class time to plan presentation

April 27th project leader email your group’s remaining cases & cc ALL group members; look for my email reply confirming receipt

Weekends to work on presentation: April 25th, May 2nd

May 8th B day presentations

May 13 A day presentations

Use this template to submit case research:

Your name: / Class period:
Case information: / Name & Year: / Amendment(s) & excerpt: / Legal question(s):
Case summary: / Background: / Plaintiffs & Defendants: / Reason for bringing suit:
Decision: / Decided in favor of: / Vote tally (ID Chief Justice): / Key arguments in ruling:
PRECEDENT ESTABLISHED:

BrionesCivil Rights & Liberties projectAPG

Incorporation Cases
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
Freedom of Religion: Establishment Clause
Everson v. Board of Education (1942)
Engle v. Vitale (1962)
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
Ten Commandments cases:
McCreary County v. ACLU of KY (2005)
Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
Freedom of Religion: Free Exercise Clause
Reynolds v. United States (1879)
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
Church of Lukuani Babalu Ave., v. Hialeah (1993)
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
Freedom of Speech and Press
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)
Miller v. California (1973)
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Morse v. Frederick (2007)
Freedom of Assembly and Petition
NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
Boy Scouts of American v. Dale (2000)
2nd Amendment rights
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Death Penalty cases:
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Equal Protection of the Laws
* Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)
* Korematsu v. United States (1944)
* Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
Equal Protection – Women
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Reed v. Reed (1971)
* Roe v. Wade (1973)
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)

BrionesCivil Rights & Liberties projectAPG

* you should already know these cases