Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
In Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court addressed how a criminal defendant can establish that a prosecutor used a peremptory challenge against a prospective juror of the defendant’s race on the basis of race.
Read the full storyBates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1969)
Two recent law graduates opened a law practice, which they called the ‘‘Legal Clinic of Bates and O’Steen.’’
Read the full storyBartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
Plaintiffs, a union president and a chief negotiator, had a cellular phone conversation in which threats were made against school board members.
Read the full storyBartkus v. Illinois, 359 U.S. 121 (1959)
In this decision, the Supreme Court upheld a state conviction following federal acquittal for the same crime, ruling that the so-called ‘‘double jeopardy clause’’ of the Fifth Amendment, which bars multiple convictions for the same crime, did not apply to the states.
Read the full storyBarron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243 (1833)
Barron v. Baltimore was an appeal to the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeals of Maryland, upon a writ of error through Section 25 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, on the grounds that a state action had violated the U.S. Constitution.
Read the full storyBarnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
Nude dancing as an issue in earlier cases occurred in the context of alcohol regulations, such as California v. LaRue (1972), or zoning laws as in Schad v. Mt. Ephraim (1981).
Read the full storyBarenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109 (1959)
In 1954, Lloyd Barenblatt was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), which was investigating communist activities and organizations.
Read the full storyBarefoote v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
Many capital punishment statutes permit jurors to consider evidence of a convicted capital murderer’s ‘‘future dangerousness.’’
Read the full storyBarclay v. Florida, 463 U.S. 939 (1983)
Barclay was convicted of first-degree murder for his participation in the politically and racially motivated murder of a hitchhiker.
Read the full storyA Book Named ‘‘John Cleland’s Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure’’ v. Massachusetts, 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
A civil proceeding initiated by the Massachusetts attorney general declared Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (more commonly known as Fanny Hill) to be obscene. The publisher, G. P. Putman, appealed and lost.
Read the full storyAbington Township School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963)
One of the two decisions known as the school prayer cases, Abington followed immediately in the wake of Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), in which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the recitation in public schools of a prayer composed by the New York Board of Regents.
Read the full storyAbood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that assessment of mandatory service charges on nonunion members in an agency shop to finance union expenditures for collective bargaining did not violate their First Amendment rights.
Read the full storyAbortion Protest Cases
In three cases, the Supreme Court has considered the rights of anti-abortion protestors outside abortion clinics.
Read the full storyAbrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
Condemning ‘‘the hypocrisy of the United States and her allies’’ and denouncing President Woodrow Wilson as a hypocrite and a coward, Jacob Abrams and four associates—all five Russian-born Jews and avowed anarchists—distributed fliers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the summer of 1918 directing attention to U.S. efforts to halt the Bolshevik Revolution.
Read the full storyAgostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
In Agostini v. Felton, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its 1985 decision in Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985) (and portions of its companion decision in School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, 473 U.S. 373, 1985)...
Read the full storyAguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
In its 1985 decision in Aguilar v. Felton, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a government program that provided remedial instruction to low-income children attending parochial schools—a decision that reflected the strong separationist jurisprudence adhered to by a narrow majority of the Court’s justices during that era.
Read the full storyAkron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983)
After the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), a myriad of legislative responses to Roe held that the right of privacy encompasses a woman’s right to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy.
Read the full storyAlcorta v. Texas, 355 U.S. 28 (1957)
In Alcorta, the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause bars prosecutors from knowingly presenting perjured testimony in a criminal case.
Read the full storyCounty of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
In the mid-1980s, the Supreme Court first considered the constitutionality of religious holiday displays in Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984), involving a city’s display of a nativity scene among other symbols of the Christmas holiday.
Read the full storyAllen v. Illinois, 478 U.S. 364 (1986)
The Allen Court decided the issue of whether proceedings under the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act are ‘‘criminal,’’ such that they open the door to the Fifth Amendment’s protection against selfincrimination.
Read the full storyAmalgamated Food Employees Union Local 590 v. Logan Valley Plaza, 391 U.S. 308 (1968)
The conflict between the First Amendment rights of persons to speak and the rights of private property owners to exclude individuals from their property raises thorny questions at the intersection of state action doctrine and the First Amendment.
Read the full storyAmbach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68 (1979)
Interpreting the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court has generally subjected all state and local laws that discriminate on the basis of alienage to the strictest scrutiny, noting that, unlike the federal government, state entities do not have the power to regulate the admission or expulsion of noncitizens.
Read the full storyAmerican Booksellers Association, Inc., et al. v. Hudnut, 771 F. 2nd 323 (1985)
The feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States and other countries raised anew issues of discrimination and violence against women.
Read the full storyAmerican Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
In 1947, Congress added Section 9(h) to the National Labor Relations Act; this section required all labor union officers to sign annual affidavits stating that they did not belong to the Communist Party or support the unlawful overthrow of the U.S. government.
Read the full storyAnders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967)
In Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353 (1963), the Supreme Court held that an indigent defendant was entitled to have counsel appointed to handle the appeal of his conviction.
Read the full storyApodaca v. Oregon, 406 U.S. 404 (1972)
In Apodaca v. Oregon, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the question of whether the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial required a unanimous verdict.
Read the full storyApprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
This case was designed to protect the Sixth Amendment right to a ‘‘speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury’’ and the right inherent in the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to have every element of a criminal offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Read the full storyAptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
Aptheker is an important civil liberties case involving the right to travel. In Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500, 84 S.Ct. 1659 (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal law that the Court believed unconstitutionally interfered with the freedom of American citizens to travel abroad.
Read the full storyArizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279 (1991)
Arizona v. Fulminante considered whether a state court properly found a defendant’s confession was coerced in violation of the Fifth Amendment and whether admission of a coerced confession is properly evaluated using harmless error analysis.
Read the full storyArizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321 (1987)
In Hicks, the Supreme Court announced that probable cause is required to justify the search or seizure of items discovered in ‘‘plain view’’ during an unrelated search. Police entered an apartment after shots were fired through its floor, injuring a man in the apartment below.
Read the full storyArizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (1988)
In Youngblood, a divided Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause does not require the government to preserve evidence that could conclusively prove the defendant innocent.
Read the full storyAshcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
Congress passed the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 that, among other things, dealt with ‘‘virtual’’ pornographic images of minors.
Read the full storyBallew v. Georgia, 435 U.S. 223 (1978)
The manager of an adult theater was charged in a state court with distributing obscene materials, a misdemeanor. Pursuant to state law, and over his claim that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial required a jury of at least six members, he was tried and convicted by a jury of five people.
Read the full storyBaltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight, 493 U.S. 549 (1990)
MauriceM, after being hospitalized at age threemonths with fresh and partially healed bone fractures, was placed into shelter care by a court order but was later returned to his mother Jacqueline’s custody.
Read the full storyBeal v. Doe, 432 U.S. 438 (1977)
Indigents who were eligible for financial assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act’s Medicaid program challenged a Pennsylvania statute that denied funding for their desired abortions.
Read the full storyBeauharnais v. Illinois, 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
In Beauharnais v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the validity of a 1917 Illinois group libel statute, finding that such speech fell outside the protections of the First Amendment.
Read the full storyBelle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1 (1974)
When a local government zones, it typically classifies land uses according to use type (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), and then regulates uses within each classification according to height and density.
Read the full storyBellis v. United States, 417 U.S. 85 (1974)
Isadore Bellis was a partner in a small law firm who received a grand jury subpoena for the financial records of the partnership and sought to resist producing them by asserting his Fifth Amendment selfincrimination privilege.
Read the full storyBellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979)
As soon as the ink was dry on the Supreme Court’s opinion in Roe v. Wade, many state legislatures passed laws to limit a woman’s ability to get an abortion, or to at least place hurdles in her way.
Read the full storyBenton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
The double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall ‘‘be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.’’
Read the full storyBerger v. New York, 388 U.S. 41 (1967)
Berger v. New York addressed questions pertaining to the Fourth Amendment. This decision overruled the precedent set by Olmstead v. United States.
Read the full storyBerkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984)
An individual is in custody, for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona, when a reasonable person in the suspect’s position would have believed himself in custody.
Read the full storyBethel School District v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
Does the First Amendment prevent a school district from disciplining a high school student for giving a lewd speech at a school assembly?
Read the full storyBetts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 (1942)
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides, among other things, that ‘‘in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.’’
Read the full storyBivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
Bivens held, for the first time, that a federal court may hold individual government agents liable for money damages for violating a person’s Fourth Amendment rights.
Read the full storyBlackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21 (1974)
Perry was tried and found guilty of the misdemeanor assault of a fellow inmate. When he exercised his statutory right to a new trial under North Carolina law, the prosecutor charged him with felony assault for the same conduct that had been previously charged as a less serious offense.
Read the full storyBoard of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
In Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, a public school board denied students’ request to form a Christian club and meet after school on school premises.
Read the full storyBoard of Education v. Allen, 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
One of the most contentious church–state issues in the United States has been the question of the constitutionality of government aid to religious schools.
Read the full storyBoard of Education v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822 (2002) (Students)
Drug testing of students by public school officials constitutes a search that must be reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. In Board of Education v. Earls, the Court addressed the lawfulness of warrantless, suspicionless drug testing of students.
Read the full storyBoard of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
In Board of Education v. Pico, the sharply divided Court held that the school board violated the students’ First Amendment rights by removing from high school and junior high school libraries several books that the board found ‘‘anti-American, anti- Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy.’’
Read the full storyBoard of Education, Kiryas Joel School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
Kiryas Joel involved a striking fact situation: a public school district created to serve only the disabled children of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect.
Read the full storyBob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
Federal law provides that ‘‘[c]orporations organized and operated exclusive for religious, charitable, or educational purposes’’ are entitled to tax-exempt status.
Read the full storyCity of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
The First Amendment provides that ‘‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’’
Read the full storyBolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
Since the mid-1970s, it has been clear that commercial speech can be protected free speech under the First Amendment. However, it is typically accorded lesser protection than noncommercial speech.
Read the full storyBond v. Floyd, 385 U.S. 116 (1966)
Bond v. Floyd arose from the intersection of the struggle for civil rights and the protest movement against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, two political movements that had a dramatic impact on the United States in the 1960s.
Read the full storyBordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357 (1978)
When we think of adjudicating guilt, we think of trials—witnesses questioned, lawyers locked in forensic combat, juries attentive to the subtleties of the case in preparation for their deliberations, and the verdict that will ultimately puncture the tension in the courtroom.
Read the full storyBowen v. American Hospital Association, 476 U.S. 610 (1986)
Important rights and policies can be in tension when a governmental agency seeks to act on a child’s behalf and parental consent has not been obtained.
Read the full storyBowen v. Kendrick, 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
In Bowen v. Kendrick, the Court upheld the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) against an establishment clause challenge.
Read the full storyBowen v. Roy, 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
Pursuant to federal regulations requiring social security numbers for all dependent children, Pennsylvania authorities had stopped Aid to Dependent Families and Children benefits to Stephen Roy and Karen Miller and were also taking steps to reduce food stamps.
Read the full storyBowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
When a police officer came to serve an arrest warrant upon Michael Hardwick for a citation that Hardwick had already paid, the officer found Hardwick in his bedroom engaged in consensual oral sex with another man.
Read the full storyBoy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
The First Amendment right to free speech includes a right to associate for expressive purposes.
Read the full storyBoyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
An agent of the customs department, referred to as a collector, seized thirty-five cases of plate glass in pursuance of customs law.
Read the full storyBoykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242 (1969)
The central issue in the Boykin case was the responsibility of a criminal court to safeguard the rights of the accused.
Read the full storyBradfield v. Roberts, 175 U.S. 291 (1899)
Bradfield v. Roberts is the first of only two Supreme Court cases that have addressed whether government funding of faith-based human services programs is constitutional.
Read the full storyBrady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
In Brady, the Supreme Court for the first time squarely recognized that the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause guarantees criminal defendants the right to be given favorable information in the possession of the prosecution or the police.
Read the full storyBrandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
This case originated in the state of Ohio where Clarence Brandenburg, a Ku Klux Klan leader, was convicted, fined. . .
Read the full storyBranti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
When a newly appointed Democratic public defender discharged two assistant public defenders because they were Republicans, the discharged lawyers claimed that their First Amendment freedoms of belief and association were violated.
Read the full storyBranzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
In Branzburg, the Supreme Court confronted an issue of continuing controversy: May journalists who are called to testify before grand juries protect the identities of their confidential sources?
Read the full storyBraswell v. United States, 487 U.S. 99 (1988)
The availability of the Fifth Amendment selfincrimination privilege to resist producing documents in response to a subpoena has depended on whether the government sought the records from an individual (or sole proprietorship) or from a larger business organization.
Read the full storyBray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic, 506 U.S. 263 (1993)
In Bray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic, the Supreme Court held that the anti-conspiracy provision of the 1871 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) . . .
Read the full storyBreithaupt v. Abram, 352 U.S. 432 (1957)
Breithaupt was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico following an automobile collision resulting in three deaths.
Read the full storyBrewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977)
On Christmas Eve 1968, a ten-year-old child was abducted by Williams, a recent escapee from a mental hospital.
Read the full storyBrooks v. Tennessee, 406 U.S. 605 (1972)
In Brooks, the Supreme Court struck down a state statute requiring criminal defendants to testify, if at all, before any other defense witnesses take the stand.
Read the full storyBrotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia ex rel. Virginia State Bar, 377 U.S. 1 (1964)
The legal profession has traditionally exhibited antipathy toward activities that could be perceived as encouraging litigation. It has also taken a dim view of nonlawyers providing legal advice.
Read the full storyBrown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring state-mandated school segregation unconstitutional, was perhaps the Court’s most important decision of the twentieth century.
Read the full storyBrown v. Mississippi, 279 U.S. 278 (1936)
In Brown v. Mississippi, the Supreme Court for the first time relied upon the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to exclude a confession from evidence in a state court.
Read the full storyBuchanan v. Kentucky, 483 U.S. 402 (1987)
David Buchanan was indicted on capital murder charges for the rape and murder of Barbel Poore.
Read the full storyBuchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917)
A 1914 Louisville, Kentucky city ordinance prohibited blacks from buying houses on blocks where the majority of the residents where white, and at the same time, prohibited whites from buying houses on blocks where the majority of the residents were black.
Read the full storyBuck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927)
In 1924, the state of Virginia passed a law granting certain state hospitals the authority to sterilize patients deemed mentally defective.
Read the full storyBuckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
To appreciate the significance of Buckley v. Valeo, it is important to take a step back and consider the role of money in politics since the founding of the nation, but especially with the rise of the modern campaign in the twentieth century.
Read the full storyBullington v. Missouri, 451 U.S. 430 (1981)
Bullington was indicted and convicted of capital murder. Under Missouri law, this meant that he would receive either death or life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for fifty years.
Read the full storyBurdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465 (1921)
Following an internal investigation into unlawful conduct, Henry L. Doherty & Co. fired its employee, J.C. McDowell.
Read the full storyBurks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1 (1978)
At the robbery trial of David Burks, the defendant presented three unchallenged witnesses testifying that he was insane. In response, the government presented two expert witnesses who did not express definite opinions.
Read the full storyButler v. McKellar, 494 U.S. 407 (1990)
When the Supreme Court decides a case in a way that alters the constitutional rights available to a criminal defendant, can prisoners who have already completed their appeals benefit from that case through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus?
Read the full storyByers v. Edmondson, 712 So.2d 681 (1999) (‘‘Natural Born Killers’’ Case)
The judgment rendered concerns the issue of whether the film Natural Born Killers is protected speech under the First Amendment, that is, should movie producers, directors, and studios be responsible for encouraging criminal behavior?
Read the full storyCain v. Kentucky, 387 U.S. 319 (1970)
In a per curium decision, based on Redrup v. New York (1967), the Supreme Court disposed of Cain v. Kentucky and reversed Kentucky’s ban of public showings of the film ‘‘I, A Woman.’’
Read the full storyCalder v. Bull, 3 U.S. 386 (1798)
The Connecticut legislature enacted a resolution granting a new hearing in a probate trial.
Read the full storyCalero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co., 416 U.S. 663 (1974)
Federal and state laws authorize the government to seize and forfeit property that is ‘‘tainted’’ by its connection to specified crimes.
Read the full storyCalifornia v. Acevedo, 500 U.S. 565 (1991)
The Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches generally requires law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before initiating a search.
Read the full storyCalifornia v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988)
In California v. Greenwood, the police searched a defendant’s garbage bags left on the curb.
Read the full storyCalifornia v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
When a commercial activity requires a license or permit from a government, can a state use this authority to regulate ‘‘expression’’ even if aspects of the conduct do not meet the Roth standard of obscenity?
Read the full storyCalifornia v. Ramos, 459 U.S. 1301 (1982)
People who disagree about something can be induced to set aside their disagreement to unite against a common enemy.
Read the full storyCalifornia v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (1984)
In Trombetta, the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause does not require the government to preserve evidence that could potentially be useful to a criminal defendant.
Read the full storyCamara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco, 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
The Fourth Amendment’s requirement that the government obtain a warrant before any search or seizure of private property is well established for criminal investigations.
Read the full storyCantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe proselytizing is an essential part of their faith and, therefore, a religious obligation.
Read the full storyCapitol Square Review and Advisory Board v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
Capitol Square is a 10-acre, state-owned plaza surrounding the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
Read the full storyCarey v. Population Services International, 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
Whether, and to what extent, minors should enjoy the same constitutional rights as adults is one of the most vexing and unsettled questions of constitutional law.
Read the full storyCarolene Products v. U.S., 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
This relatively minor case is remembered not for the issue supposedly before the Court, but for a footnote that in the eyes of many scholars launched a constitutional revolution.
Read the full storyCarroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
The Supreme Court has held that, under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, police officers must obtain a warrant to engage in a search or a seizure. . .
Read the full storyCentral Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York, 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
In 1973, when an oil embargo caused fuel shortages, the New York Public Service Commission issued a regulation prohibiting electric companies from advertising to promote electricity use.
Read the full storyChae Chan Ping v. U.S., 130 U.S. 581 (1889) and Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese first emigrated to the United States in large numbers in 1849, when they joined thousands of Americans and other foreign fortune-seekers in the ‘‘gold rush’’ to the American West.
Read the full storyChambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227 (1940)
Torturing a man to confess a crime is an ancient evil. Subtler pressures can also break a man. Under the Fifth Amendment, Bram v. United States, and the Fourteenth Amendment, the Constitution outlaws the use of mental pressure or physical force to get a confession.
Read the full storyChambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973)
Unreasonable application of evidentiary principles against a criminal defendant may violate the U.S. Constitution on any number of grounds, including the Compulsory Process, Due Process, or Confrontation Clauses.
Read the full storyChandler v. Florida, 449 U.S. 560 (1981)
The Supreme Court ruled in Chandler v. Florida that the Constitution did not require an absolute ban on cameras in the courtroom, marking a significant change in its thinking on the issue.
Read the full storyChandler v. Miller, 520 U.S. 305 (1997) (Candidates)
In 1990, the Georgia legislature passed a law requiring that each candidate for state office certify that he or she had tested negative for illegal drugs.
Read the full storyChicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
The City of Chicago passed an ordinance that was aimed at reducing gang presence in Chicago neighborhoods.
Read the full story