Landmark Cases
What is a Landmark Case?
A landmark case is a United States Supreme Court decision that sets precedent* for how future cases should side, it can also highlight a new way to interpret laws.
*PRECEDENT: A past court decision that guides future cases
Case Summaries
These teen-relevant legal battles have shaped the freedoms in our current society
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Basis: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional and unfair, because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendement .
Timeline
Fun Fact: this decision was based on the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson, which devloped the idea that "seperate but equal" facilities were consittutional
Reached SCOTUS through a congregation of 5 different cases which all centered around school segregation, brought froward by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund and was then consolidated into one case by the judges.
Why it matters: helped end segregation in schools.
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
Timeline
After siblings John F. Tinker and Mary Berth Tinker, and their friend Christopher Ekhdhart were suspended for wearing black armbands to silently protest the Vietnam war while knowing that they were banned. With help from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) file a lawsuit against the federal district court, who ruled against the school. It was then appealed by the school and sent to the 8th circuit court of appeals, who couldn't make a decision (4-4), which led to no change from the previous ruling. Finally, the Supreme Court picks up the case and rules 7-2 in favor of the Students, highlighting that they have the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech as long as it doesn't cause a disturbance.
Basis: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled 7 - 2 that students have the rights to freedom of speech, and peaceful assembly. As long as they were not doings anything dangerous, threatening, or disruptive, they were acting within their rights and the school was in the wrong.
Why it matters: protects student free speech rights.
Background: Miranda v. Arizona is the case that led to the “Miranda rights” you hear on TV: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” Before this case, police often questioned people for hours without clearly telling them they could stay quiet or ask for a lawyer. This is also where the phrase "I plead the fifth" comes from, becasue a person would be using their 5th amendment right against self - incrimination in order not to testify against themselves. or teens, this matters a lot: if you are taken into custody and questioned, you do not have to answer questions, you can ask for a lawyer, and you can ask for a parent or guardian to be there. If police ignore these rights, evidence acquired illegal (without council or a guardian present) will have to be thrown out.
Basis: The Supreme Court cited the Fifth Amendment protection from self - incrimination, while deciding that, while Ernesto Miranda may have been guilty, all evidence that would prove him so must be thrown out because he was not aware of his rgiths. This led to the creation of the "Miranda rights".
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Timeline
Ernesto Miranda was origionally arrested for kidnapping, robbery, and rape, but when Arizona policemen detained and questioned him for over 2 hours, they never told him that he had his given rights from the 5th amendment. In his origional trial, he was found guilty, but when Miranda appealed the case, the Supreme Court picked it up and eventually ruled in a 5 -4 decision in his favor. While the Supreme court did not find him not guilty, they did decide that his statement could not be used, and without that key peice of evidence, the case fell through. Arizona later filed for a new trial in which Miranda was convicted and sent to prison.
Why it matters: protects individual rights against self-incrimination.