As part of its strategy to enjoin the NAACP from operating, Alabama required it to reveal to the State's Attorney General the names and addresses of all the NAACP's members and agents in the state. The NAACP argued that this violated the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
Verdict: Unanamous decision for the NAACP, majority opinion by John M. Harlan II. He said that “that a compelled disclosure of the NAACP's membership lists would have the effect of suppressing legal association among the group's members”.
NAACP v. button (1963)
The NAACP was prosecuted for violating a Virginia statute which banned "the improper solicitation of any legal or professional business”. They said this violated the 1st and 14th amendment.
Verdict: 6-3 decision
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Heller (2008)
District of Columbia made it illegal to own a firearm without a license and if you had one it must be unloaded and have a trigger lock. Dick Heller was a special police officer who wanted to keep gun in his home. The district of columbia denied him when he applied for a license so he sued the district of Columbia saying this violated his second amendment.
Verdict: 5-4 decision for Heller, majority given by Antonin Scalia.they argued that banning the registration for firearms within the household violates the second amendment.
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
After the District of Columbia v. Heller ruled that bans on personal guns was unconstitutional Otis Mcdonald filed a lawsuit against Chicago and Otis park saying that it should be the same ruling for the states.
Verdict: 5-4 decision for Otis McDonald, majority given by Samuel A. Alito Jr.. He said tthat he Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense applicable to the states.
Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
Powell v. Alabama (1932)
9 black kids were accused of raping white women in the state of alabama. The court cases were rushed through and they were all sentenced to death. The boys lawyers barely defended them and merely showed up. This violated the due process of law (14th
Korematsu vs. US: The supreme court case of Korematsu vs. US was during ww2 and shortly after the attacks on pearl harbor. The supreme court decision was 6-3 in Korematsu 's favor, the impact showed that it was a violation oft he 14th amendment which said that everyone had equal protection under law. Plessy vs. Ferguson: The supreme court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson was the case that made segregation legal, the phrase during that time was "Separate but equal.
Imagine, suddenly being put on trial and locked away for 18 years and 78 days for a crime you did not commit. This is exactly what happened to Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin when they were convicted for the murder of three young boys: Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch. When the bodies of the boys were discovered immense pressure was put on the police and they needed to act quickly. The teens were the obvious and safest choice as they were seen by the community as weird and mischievous. Not to mention there were many rumors saying the group was involved in a satanic cult which supposedly led to the three young boys’ demise.
This law is a clear violation of the fundamental right to keep and bear arms. The wording of the Second Amendment is clear and does not mention anything regarding regulations. We as the court must ignore the
This case known as Ableman v. Booth, 62 U.S. 514 (1859). This case had to deal with Wisconsin blocking federal authority to uphold federal law. It dealt with the ability of federal authorities to arrest and detain a gentleman by the name of Booth for helping a federal prisoner escape. The battle was between the Wisconsin Supreme court, which found the law to be unconstitutional and the United States Supreme Court ruling that it was constitutional.
In 1909, the NAACP started its legacy of fighting legal battles to win social justice for African-Americans. The most significant of these battles were won under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston and his student, Thurgood Marshall. Nathan Margold found that, the facilities provided for blacks were always separate, but never equal to the facilities provided for whites, violating Plessy’s “separate but equal” principle. Thurgood Marshall continued the Association’s legal campaign, and during the mid-1940s, in Smith v. Allwright, Marshall successfully challenged the “white primaries,” which prevented African Americans from casting a vote in several southern states. In 1946 Thurgood Marshall also won a case in which the Supreme Court ended
The District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) considered the constitutionality of The District of Columbia law banning the possession of handguns. The Court upheld the federal appeals court decision, striking down both elements of the D.C. gun law. In addition, the Court broke down the Second Amendment into two different views. The operative clause and the prefatory clause assisted Justice Scalia in the Courts opinion and Justice Stevens in dissent. I agree with Justice Stevens’s dissented opinion for several reasons.
Starting with District of Columbia V. Heller, where a man by the name of Alan Gura was tasked with convincing the justices that the second amendment guaranteed individuals the right to own guns. The task at hand for him seemed a little too large for him due to the fact that he was not as experienced as his opponent Walter Dellinger. The National Rifle Association believed that his case would end poorly for their organization. They were also dead set on making sure the Supreme Court did not make a ruling on the meaning of the Second Amendment. So they tried with all of their power to stop Gura from pursuing the case, however Gura was determined to convince the court.
In 1937, the case was taken to the Supreme Court and the boys’ convictions were dropped. This case raised issues in the legal system and also caused people to rethink the judicial
Christmas [2003] in a leafy, upscale Chicago suburb, home owner Hale DeMar used his handgun to shoot a burglar. Trouble is , Wilmette years ago outlawed his handgun to shoot a burglar. That means it was illegal for him to defend himself. This example along with many others is why I think people should legally be allowed to conceal and carry a weapon or be able to own one for protection.
The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the
They weren’t given a fair trial. The criminal justice system gone wrong. The criminal justice system did’nt give them a chance. The system wasn’t for them. The system helped the state to fabricate and tarnished the two defendants
An important Supreme Court case from 1958 regarding the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which safeguards freedom of association, was NAACP v. Alabama. The dispute began when Alabama attempted to compel the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to reveal its membership list. The state asserted that disclosure was required in order to implement rules governing charities.
He and Clark M. Neily, gathered six people to be the plaintiffs. Dick Heller a police officer that carried a hand gun all day but wasn’t allowed to have one in his home. He wanted this law to be removed. The Supreme Court overruled the local law and allowed for gun ownership and adjusted the rules for guns.
As we have already established, judicial restraint is exercised when justices work to make sure public policies are not changed, keeping laws and statutes just as they have been; by interpreting the United States Constitution literally, taking every word at face value, justices remain solely in their roles as justices without assuming the role of a policy maker. In District of Columbia v Heller, the justices of the Supreme Court took the literal interpretation of the 2nd Amendment into account when deciding the case. The 2nd Amendment states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Justices deciding District of Columbia v Heller believed that “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” trumped the segment of the Amendment that states that the right to bear arms was necessary in keeping a militia; it was made clear that “the right of the people” in the 2nd Amendment referred to citizens’ individual rights to keep firearms, not the states’ rights to keep a militia as was determined in United States v Miller. Though this interpretation of the 2nd Amendment by the Roberts Court was different than that of the justices who decided United States v Miller, the way in which the amendment was interpreted made sure that no changes were made to existing laws or policies, i.e., the Bill of Rights.
They were not given a fair or accurate investigation, trial, or even a chance. The five boys were treated as if they have been in the system for the entirety of their lives. Imagine being assumed a hardcore criminal when you’re 15 years old, your assumed life of crime would have to begin the second you are